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BOSTON: 
TICK  NOR,    REED,    AND    FIELDS 

JI  DCCC  LIII. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1853,  by 

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V.   S.   JUDGE    FOR    THE    DISTKICT    OF    MAKTLAND, 


m  I 


GUATEFrL   ACKXCV.n.EDGJIKXT   OF 


MAXY  KIXUXKSSES 


PREFACE 


When  writing  the  ''  Glimpses  of  Spain,"  the 
author  supposed  it  scarcely  possible  that  he 
should  ever  return  to  that  country.  The  work, 
however,  was  still  in  the  press,  when  he  was 
honored  by  an  invitation,  from  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior  of  the  United  States,  to  visit  Madrid 
upon  an  important  professional  eiTand.  The 
offer  was  too  flattering  to  be  declined,  and  the 
present  volume  is  one  of  the  results  of  its  ac- 
ceptance. 

Though  the  author  did  not  occupy  any  recog- 
nized relation  to  the  Spanish  government,  the 
nature  of  his  duties,  and  the  intercourse  and 
connections  resulting  from  his  position,  afforded 
him  many  and  excellent  opportunities  of  knowl- 
edge and  observation.     He  docs  not  jirofc-s  to 


VI  PREFACE. 


have  availed  himself  of  his  advantages  as  fully 
as  he  might,  had  his  duties  been  less  engross- 
ing; but  he  trusts  it  will  be  found,  that  they 
have  enabled  him  to  give  the  work  which  fol- 
lows a  less  ephemeral  character  than  that  of  an 
ordinary  book  of  travels.  In  the  attempt  to  do 
this,  he  has  sought  to  communicate,  as  far  as 
practicable,  such  information  in  regard  to  Spain, 
as  is  not,  to  his  knowledge,  accessible  elsewhere. 
Much  of  this  volume  was  prepared,  as  the 
whole  should  have  been,  soon  after  the  writer's 
return  to  the  United  States.  Having  had  no 
control  over  the  circumstances  which  delayed 
its  completion,  he  has  endeavored  to  countervail 
them  by  keeping  pace  with  the  intermediate 
progress  of  Spanish  affairs,  and  is  persuaded 
that  he  has  thus  been  able  to  present,  on  the 
whole,  a  fair  contemporary  view  of  his  subject. 
The  reader  will,  of  course,  make  allowance  for 
the  generalities  of  both  statement  and  reflection 
which  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  in  a  sketch. 
The  favorable  reception  of  his  former  work  gives 
the  author  some  confidence,  that  the  present 
volume  will  not  meet  with  the  less  considera- 
tion, because  he  has  again  attempted  to  portray 
the   national   characteristics   of   the    Spaniards, 


PREFACE.  VII 

without  underrating  their  intelh'gence,  depreciat- 
ing their  morals,  or  caricaturing  their  manner;^ 
and  reliiiion. 

It  would  be  unpardonable  to  send  forth  the 
record  of  a  most  agreeable  sojourn  in  the  Span- 
ish capital,  without  acknowledging  the  indebted- 
ness of  the  author  to  the  oflicers  of  the  United 
States  Legation  there,  and  especially  to  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Barringer,  for  all  the  pleasure  and 
advantage  which  courtesy  and  kindness  could 
give  to  personal  and  official  intercourse. 

Baltisiore,  January,  1853. 


i 


CO  X  TENTS. 


I. 

PAOK 

.TourneT  to  Madrid 1 


II. 


Lodging-IIouscs.    Lodging,    and    Life    in    Madrid.  —  Ser- 
vants. &c. ^ 


III. 


Foundation.  Locality,  Climate,  Dress,   Health,  &c.  of  Ma- 
drid  l"^ 


IV. 


l^icrta  del  Sol.  —  Tublic  Habits  of  the  Madrilciios.  —  Tiie 
Prado.  —  Equipages.  —  Ilorsemen.  —  Atocha  Walk.  — 
Women  of  Mad  rid 22 


CONTENTS. 


V. 


Constitutional  History  and  Epochs.  —  Constitutions.  —  Fer- 
dinand the  Seventh.  —  Due  d'Angoulcmo. — Cristina. — 
Don  Carlos.  —  Estatuto  Real.  —  History  of  Parties.  — 
Espartero. — Narvaez .31 


VI. 


Constitution  of  1845.  — Its  Provisions  and  Character.  —  Tlie 
Cortes. —  Elections. — Pay  of  Members. — Executive  In- 
fluence.—  Its  Benefits.  —  Republican  Propagandism.         .    44 

VII. 

The  Executive  and  Judiciary. — Juries  and  the  Trial  by 
Jury.  58 


VIII. 


Jurisprudence.  —  Codes.  —  Colonial  System.  —  Administra- 
tion of  Justice.  —  Escribanos. — Judges.  —  The  Legal  Pro- 
fession  67 


IX. 


The  Press.  —  Newspapers.  —  Sartorius.  —  The  Puritans. — 
Pacheeo.  —  Party  Organs. 82 


X. 


Cuba  and  the  United  States.  —  The  Cronica  Newspaper. — 
-Parties  in  Cuba.  —Public  Sentiment  there.  —  Abuses  and 
their  Remedy.  —  Annexation 96 


CONTEXTS.  xi 


XI. 

The  Chamber  of  Deputies. —  Tcatio  de  Oricnte.  —  Ministers 
and  Opposition.  —  Couneil  of  Ministers.  —  Seats  of  Min- 
isters in  the  Legislature Ill 


XII. 


General  Narvaez.  —  Ministerial  Profits.  —  Marquis  of  Filial. 
—  Asturian  Nobility.  —  Sr.  Mon.  —  Prohibitive  Duties 
and  the  Catalans 1  lio 


XIII. 


Sr.  AiTazola.  —  Bravo  Murillo.  —  The  Budget.  —  Ministe- 
rial Movement.  —  The  Senate.  —  Moderado  Principles.  — 
Bravo  Murillo's  Speech 1  !.-, 

XIV. 

General  Figueras.  —  Boca  de  Togores.  —  Alexandre  Dumas. 
—  Southern  Oratory.  —  Olozaga.  —  Escosura.  —  Bena- 
vides.  —  Donoso  CortsJs.  —  Their  Speeches.      .        .        .  145 

XV. 

The  Senate.  —  Alcala  Galiano.  —  The  Cortes  of  1823.  —  The 
Athenaeum.  —  Galiano's  Lectures  there 1G4 


XVI. 

The  Ex-Regent  Espartero  and  his  Bival,  Narvacz.  —  The 
Carlist  War  and  its  Conclusion. —  Downfall  ol^Espartero, 
and  its  Causes.  —  Love  of  Titles  and  Honors.  —  Orders  of 
Knighthood 173 


XU  CONTENTS. 


XVII. 


f 


+ 


Loyalty.  —  The  Queen.  —  Gui/.ot  and  Infante.  —  Eefricides. 

—  Necessity  of  an  able  Prince.  —  The  Queen's  Einbarazo. 

—  Public  Eejoicings  and  Ceremonial.  —  Diplomatic  Con- 
gratulations and  Reception.  —  The  King.  .         .         .183 

XVIII. 

Social  Customs  in  Madrid.  —  Entertainments. —  Society  and 
its  Spirit.  —  Imitation  of  the  French.  —  The  Academy 
and  the  Press.  —  Socialism.  —  Etiquette.  —  Social  Frank- 
ness and  Cordiality. .195 


XIX. 


Theatres  and  Dramatic  Literature.  —  Actors  and  their  Style. 

—  Romea  and  Matilde  Diaz.  —  Breton  de  los  Herreros 
and  his  Plays.  —  Rubi.  —  Isabel  la  Catolica.  —  Historical 
Dramas.  —  Theatrical  Police.  —  Literary  Rewards.  — 
Copyright.  —  Count  of  San  Luis 208 

XX. 

Literature.  —  Books,  Bookselleris,  and  Book-Stalls.  —  Book- 
Hunting  in  Madrid.  —  Publishers.  —  Standard  Works.  — 
Historical  and  Geographical  Dictionary  of  Madoz  — 
Cheap  Publications.  — Mi:  Ticknor's  History  of  Spanish 
Literature.  —  Its  Character  and  Translation.  —  Gayangos. 

—  Yedia 219 


XXI. 

Quintana.  —  The  Junta  Central.  —  Quintana's  Political  and 
Literary  Life  and  Works.  —  Nicasio  Gallego.  —  His  Polit- 


4 


CONTENTS.  XUI 

ical  Ciireor  nml  Poems  — Debates  on  the  Inquisition  — 
Clerical  Lil)erality. —  Dos  de  Mayo. —  Martinez  Uc  la 
Rosa.  —  His  rolitical  and  Literary  Life  and  Works.  — 
Estatuto  Real 233 

XXII. 

Standinc;  Armies. — The  Spanish  Army,  its  Condition  and 
Political  Influence.  —  Immense  Number  of  Generals. — 
The  Scientific  Corps.  —  Their  Organization  and  Merits. 

—  The  Navy,  its  Improvement  and  Personnel. —  Its  Or- 
ganization.—  The  Cuban  Expeditions.  —  Discriminating 
Duties  under  our  Act  of  18.'34.  —  Development  of  Af;ricul- 
ture  and  Internal  Improvements  in  Spain,  in  Consequence. 

—  Santander.  —  Railroads.  —  The  Canal  of  Castile.  — 
Competition 2.')0 

XXIII. 

Ecclesiastical  System  and  Reforms.  —  Abolition  of  the  In- 
quisition.—  Its  Character.  —  Llorente.  —  Campomanes. — 
Eloridablanca  and  Jovellanos.  —  The  Monastic  Orders.  — 
Their  Suppression.  —  Confiscation  of  Church  Property. — 
Reforms  of  the  Church  System.  —  I'ay  of  the  Clergy.  — 
Character  of  the  Secular  Clergy.  —  Clerical  Influence.  — 
Toleration  in  Spain.  —  Protestant  Travellers  and  Preju- 
dices. —  Exaggerations,  &c 2G5 

XXIV. 

Education.  —  Statistics.  —  System  of  Instruction.  —  Schools. 

—  Universities.  —  Censns  of  180.3.  —  University  of  Madrid 

—  of  Alaala.  —  Complutensian    Polyglot.  —  Manuscripts. 

—  Prcscott's  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  —  Sabau's  Transla- 
tion of  it 291 


XIV  CONTENTS. 


XXV. 


Taxes  and  Modes  of  Collecting  them. —  Eeforms  in  Taxa- 
tion.—  The  Provincial  Deputations  and  Ayuntamientos. 
—  Grievances  and  Abuses.  —  The  Customs.  —  Low  Sala- 
ries. —  Gate-Money.  —  Tax  on  Consunijjtion.  —  National 
Debt 301 


XXVI. 

Internal  Improvements.  —  Agricultural  and  Mineral  Wealth. 

—  Natural  Obstacles. —  Present  Facilities  for  Travel  and 
Transportation.  —  Safety  of  the  Roads.  —  Police.  —  New 
Koads  and  Canals.  —  Administration  of  Eoads  and  Ca- 
nals. —  Railroads  projected  and  completed.  —  Raih-oad 
Committee  of  tlie  Cortes.  —  Royal  Decree  and  Participa- 
tion of  the  Government  in  the  Management  of  Railroads. 

—  Influx  of  Capital,  and  its  Results.  .        .        .        .312 


XXVII. 

Improvement  in  Agriculture  and  its  Causes.  —  Improved 
Value  of  Land.  —  Territorial  Wealth  and  Production.  — 
Practical  Farmers.  —  Espartero.  —  Agricultural  EdAca- 
tion.  —  Economical  Societies.  —  Agricultural  Bureau  and 
its  Action.  —  Irrigation.  —  Geological  Chart.  —  Coloniza- 
tion of  Waste  Land.  —  Irish  Colonists.— Dairy  of  Madrid. 
—  Advancement  in  Manufactures  and  Commerce.  —  Pro- 
hibitory Duties.  ^  Exports  and  Imports. —  Steam  Coast- 
ers and  Coasting  Trade.  —  Manufactures. —  Catalan  Mo- 
nopolies. —  Manufacturing  Resources  of  Spain.  —  Modifi- 
cations of  the  Tariff.  —  Silk  and  Woollen  Fabrics. —  Flax, 
Hemp,  and  Iron.  —  National  Arsenals  and  Founderies.      .  327 


I 


CONTENTS.  XV 


XXVIII. 


Fine  Arts.  —  Galleries.  —  The  National  Museum  and  \\< 
Treasures.  —  Academy  of  San  Fernando.  —  Marshal  Soult. 

—  Murillo.  —  Architecture.  —  Piihlic  Edifices.  —  Domestic 
Architecture.  —  The  Escoriai.  —  Fountains  of  Madrid.  — 
Bronze  E(|uestrian  Statues. —  Spanish  Academy.  —  Acad- 
ctny  of  History.  —  National  Library.  —  Tiie  Armory.  — 
Bull-Fights  of  1850. —  Monies,  his  Exploits,  Death,  and 
Story. .344 

XXIX. 

Valladolid.  —  Simancas  and  its  Archives.  —  Blasco  dc  Ga- 
ray  and  the  Application  of  Steam  to  Navigation.  —  His 
Invention  a  Fable.  —  Burgos.  —  Vergara.  —  Visit  to  Az- 
peitia.  —  Valley  of  Loyola.  —  .Jesuit  College  and  Church. 
The  Basques.  —  Their  Character,  Agriculture,  and  Insti- 
tutions. —  Tolosa.  —  Ride  to  Eayonne.  —  The  Gascon.     .  36.i 

XXX. 

Conclusion.  —  Political  Prospects  of  Spain.  —  Effects  of 
Peace.  —  Espartero.  —  The  Moderados.  —  The  Queen 
Mother.  —  The  Nobility.  —  I\roiiarchy.  —  Republicanism. 

—  Independence  of  National  Character  and  Manners.  — 
Loyalty.  —  Tendency  to  Federalism.  —  Reasons  therefor, 
and  Probability  of  a  Confederation.  —  Its  Benefits.  —  The 
Basque  Fueros.  —  Effect  of  Internal  Improvements  and 
Development  of  Industrial  Resources.  —  Emplcomania.  — 
Reasons  for  American  Sympathy  with  Spain.  —  Justice 
due  her .-577 


Postscript 395 


ERRATA. 

Page  57,  line  2,  3,  for  "  Plutarch's  time,"  read  "  Plutarch's  tale." 
"      83,     "      22,"    "jm-  orden,"  "      "  por  orden.'" 

"   350,     "         7,  "    "Maruato,"  "      '' Maragato." 


Journey  to  Madrid. 

It  was  in  the  beginning  of  December,  1849,  that  I 
approached  the  Pyrenees,  from  Bayonne,  for  the  first 
time.  Had  it  been  a  matter  of  discretion  with  me,  I 
should,  of  course,  have  selected  a  season  for  crossing 
them,  in  which  the  proprieties  of  the  barometer  and 
thermometer  would  have  been  more  likely  to  be  ob- 
served. The  weather,  however,  was  not  the  only  thing 
that  promised  disagreeable  contingencies.  The  whole 
gossip  of  the  hotel  population  in  Bayonne  was  terrible 
with  tales  of  robbery  upon  the  highway  to  the  Spanish 
capital.  My  previous  visit  to  the  Peninsula  had  made 
me  rather  sceptical,  it  is  true,  in  such  matters,  but  now 
the  details  were  so  vivid  and  circumstantial,  that  they 
could  hardly  be  doubted  without  flying  in  the  face  of 
all  road-side  probabilities.  A  fat  gentleman,  at  the  tahh 
d^hCte  of  the  Hotel  du  Commerce,  assured  me,  —  with 
that  air  of  certainty  not  to  be  questioned  which  belongs 
to  age  in  its  combination  with  the  apoplectic  diathe- 
sis,—  that  to  his   knowledge  the  diligence  had  been 

1 


ii  SPAIN. 

robbed  near  Lerma  a  few  days  before.  The  passengers, 
he  said,  had  been  made  to  lie  shivering  in  the  middle  of 
the  road,  with  their  faces  downwards,  and  with  the  scanti- 
est possible  allowance  of  under-clothes,  until  the  thieves 
had  made  off  with  their  outer  garments  and  valuables,  and 
the  best  mules  of  the  team.  "  And  so,"  added  the  old 
gentleman,  helping  himself  to  two  cutlets,  "  they  were 
many  hours  without  any  thing  to  eat !  "  It  was  not, 
therefore,  without  some  chill  forebodings,  in  spite  of  my- 
self, that  I  surrendered  my  fortunes  to  the  lumbering 
vehicle  which  was  to  bear  them.  As  I  looked  at  my 
watch,  to  see  the  time  of  our  departure,  it  was  tenderly 
and  sadly,  I  own,  as  at  the  face  of  an  old  friend,  from 
whom  I  soon  might  part  in  sorrow  and  for  ever.  On 
the  12th  of  December,  nevertheless,  at  four  in  the 
morning,  I  awoke  to  find  my  journey  and  misgivings 
of  seventy  hours  triumphantly  at  an  end.  I  was  at 
Madrid,  in  the  huge  hostelry  of  the  Postas  Peninsu- 
lares  on  the  Calle  de  Alcala,  sorely  exercised  in  mind 
and  battered  in  body,  but  none  the  worse  in  estate, 
beyond  the  usual  and  lawful  pillage  of  custom-house 
officers,  landlords,  and  postilions.  Whether  the  presence 
of  two  well-appointed  guardias  civiles,  who  had  joined 
us  some  stages  from  the  capital,  had  any  thing  to  do 
with  our  safety,  I  am  not  clairvoyant  enough  to  know  ; 
but  I  made  up  my  mind,  as  I  advise  all  travellers  in 
Spain  to  do,  that  thenceforward  and  for  ever  no  story 
of  highwaymen  —  though  as  long  and  romantic  as  the 
Chronicle  of  the  Cid,  and  as  authentic  as  the  American 
news  in  Galignani  —  should  prevent  me  from  pur- 
suing my  business  or  pleasure  in  the  Peninsula,  with 
a  light  heart  and  as  heavy  a  purse  as  needful. 


SPAIN.  3 

The  greater  part  of  wlmt  attracted  my  attention 
on  the  journey,  I  saw  again,  in  a  brighter  and  more 
genial  light,  on  my  return.  Only  the  stern  moun- 
tain passes  of  Pancorvo  and  Somosierra  seemed  to 
derive  a  lonelier  and  sublimer  wildness  from  the  snow 
and  leafless  trees,  and  the  congenial,  tempest-laden 
clouds  above  them.  As  to  the  "  entertainment  for  man  " 
with  which  we  were  favored,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Postas  Pcninsulares  in  whose  diligence  I  travelled,  it  is 
a  matter  of  duty  to  those  who  may  follow  me  to  say, 
that  it  was  as  detestable  as  can  be  imagined.  The 
humblest  ventorrillo  on  the  Andalusian  hills,  where  I 
partook  of  game  and  salad  in  former  days,  while  the 
fleas  took  reprisals  from  me,  was  a  palace  for  a  Syba- 
rite, in  comparison  with  some  of  the  paradores  into 
which  we  were  now  compelled  to  burrow.  A  cordon 
of  such  establishments  would  do  more,  I  think,  than 
martello  towers  and  floating  batteries,  to  check  the  march 
of  an  invading  army,  from  any  land  where  creature 
comforts  are  prized  as  they  deserve. 

But  we  were  at  Madrid,  and,  strange  to  note,  in  that 
proverbially  clear,  transparent  atmosphere,  there  hung 
over  the  stately  city  what  a  stout  curate,  who  dis- 
mounted with  us,  called  vna  niehia  del  Demonio, — 
a  fog  of  the  Devil  !  If  I  had  been  the  author  of  the 
"  Pillars  of  Hercules,"  I  should  have  felt  it  my  duty, 
as  a  Scot,  to  maintain,  against  all  diabolical  pretensions 
whatever,  that  the  mist  was  a  countr\'man  of  mine,  and 
that  I  had  seen  its  relations  in  Auld  Reekie.  As  it  was, 
I  followed  the  legal  maxim  of  believing  eveiy  man  in 
his  business,  and,  on  the  faith  of  his  clerical  friend,  gave 
credit  to  the  Demonio  accordingly. 


4  SPAIN. 


II. 


Lodging-houses,  Lodging,  and  Life  in  Madeid. — 
Servants,  &c. 

The  Arcipreste  de  Hita  —  upon  the  principle  of  tak- 
ina:  the  lesser  evil  where  we  have  a  choice  —  commends 
us  to  the  smallest  women  for  our  loves  and  wives  :  — - 

"  Del  mal,  tomar  lo  menos,  cliselo  el  Sabidor, 
Porende  de  las  mugeres  la  menor  cs  la  mejor." 

He  will  be  a  wise  man  who  reads  the  principle  back- 
wards, and  remembers  that  the  Fonda  de  las  Postas 
Peninsulares,  being  the  largest  tavern  in  Madrid,  is  of 
necessity  the  worst.  It  is  quite  an  imposing  establish- 
ment —  when  seen  from  the  street,  I  was  about  to  say ; 
but  the  interior  will  impose  upon  you  quite  as  much, 
in  its  way,  if  you  will  give  it  an  opportunity.  The  ed- 
ifice belongs  or  belonged  to  the  Marques  de  la  Torre- 
cilia,  and  is  adorned,  as  to  its  front,  with  sundry  bla- 
zonries in  churrigueresque,  which  aptly  symbolize  the 
highly  feudal  character  of  what  you  meet  within.  That 
it  is  considered  quite  a  grand  affair,  and  worthy  of  this 
attempt  to  forewarn  the  unwary   in  regard  to  it,  will 


SPAIN.  5 

be  seen  by  tlic  commendation  wliich  Mudoz  bestows  on 
it,  in  his  Diccionario  Geogrdfico,  Estadistico,  Historico, 
a  work  of  really  great  merit,  which  I  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  speak  of  hereafter.     "  All  its  apartments,"  says 
the  patriotic  Don  Pascual,  "  which  are  many  and  good, 
enjoy  excellent  light  and  ventilation,  and  have  just  un- 
dergone notable  improvement,  as  well  in  the  papering 
and  painting  of  the  walls  and  ceilings,  as  in  the  com- 
plete array  of  furniture  which  adorns  them.     Its  guests 
will  find  the  service  exact,  the  table  choicely  provided, 
and  the  beds  and  linen  exquisitely  neat."     I  should 
be  happy  if  I  had  room  for  the  whole  passage  in  the 
original,  if  it  were  only  to  show,  as  a  philological  curi- 
osity, how  much  a  beautiful  language  can  make  out 
of  a  bad,  dark,  mouldy  caravansera.     The  fondn,  rhet- 
oric apart,  is  served  by  Italians,  whose  national  instincts 
are  a  guaranty  against  cleanliness,  as  all   the  world 
knows.      The   ground-floor  is  dedicated  to  the  four- 
footed  servants  of  the  company,  which  of  course  se- 
cures to  the  rest  of  the  mansion  a  liberally  distributed 
odor  of  the  stable  and  a  lively  circulation  of  fleas  and 
horse-boys.     The  diligences,  of  which  it  is  the  great 
centre  and  emporium,  arrive  and  depart  at  all  hours  of 
the  night,  especially  at  those  when  people  with   good 
consciences  and  unpacked  trunks  enjoy  their  sweetest 
dreams ;  —  and  let   not  any  man  with  nerves  delude 
himself  by  thinking  that  the  cup  of  tribulation  has  vis- 
ited his  lips,  till  there  has  risen  on  his  slumbers  that 
forty-mule-powcr  chorus  of  shouting,  cursing,  and  whip- 
cracking,  for  which   every  departure  or  arrival  is  an 
awful  signal.     At  the  table  d'hote,  which  has  consid- 
erable pretension,  and  which  you  reach  through  long, 


b  SPAIN. 

dark  passages,  dreary  to  tread,  I  found  scarce  any  vis- 
itors but  commis  voyageurs,  who,  to  judge  from  their 
manners  and  conversation,  were,  I  am  sure,  the  worst 
of  the  beasts  not  enumerated  in  the  Apocalypse. 

It  will  be  readily  imagined,  that  such  quarters  were 
not  long  to  be  endured ;  but,  although  I  speedily  fell 
among  kind  friends,  who  appreciated  the  sadness  of 
my  lot,  and  were  willing  to  liberate  me  if  they  could, 
Madrid  is  not  a  place  where  a  man  may  find  pleasant 
lodging-houses  as  readily  as  the  illustrious  Manchegan 
fell  upon  adventures.  "  J\^o  es  este  ramo  en  el  que 
mas  sohresale  Madrid,''''  candidly  confesses  Mellado, 
in  his  "  Traveller's  Guide,"  —  the  tavern  department 
is  not  that  in  which  Madrid  chiefly  excels  !  The  Span- 
iards themselves,  who  are  exceedingly  simple  in  their 
habits,  and  can  get  comfortably  thi'ough  the  coldest 
winter  by  a  dexterous  combination  of  the  brasero,  the 
cloak,  and  the  sunshine,  will  cheerfully  stow  themselves 
away,  wherever  there  is  a  mat  on  the  tiled  floor,  and 
a  large  window  to  let  in  the  rays.  A  few  chairs  and 
a  writing-table,  with  an  alcove,  and  a  plain  but  tidy 
bed,  are  '■^  lo  que  hay  que  desear,''"'  —  all  that  a  man 
could  wish  for  lodging.  For  diet,  —  be  it  good  taste 
or  bad,  —  they  are  well  content  with  the  national  puche- 
ro,  more  or  less  refined,  —  thinking,  with  Governor 
Panza,  that,  "  in  the  diversity  of  things  whereof  the 
said  ollas  are  composed,  a  man  cannot  help  stumbling 
upon  something  that  will  please  him  and  do  him  good." 
Nor  is  that  dish  altogether  unworthy  the  great  Sancho's 
praise,  which  may  be  expanded,  if  you  will,  into  a  com- 
pendium of  natural  history  and  botany,  or  be  decent 
and  respectable  with  only  bacon  and  garhanzos.     En- 


SPAIN.  7 

tertainment  of  this  sort  is  cheap  and  easy  to  find.  You 
have  but  to  look  at  the  newspapers,  or  cast  a  ghmce  at 
tlie  intelligence-ofiicc  which  is  wafered  up,  in  manu- 
script, on  the  back  wall  of  the  post-office  building,  and 
you  will  find  paradises  of  the  kind  tempting  you  by 
the  score.  "  iYo  hay  nihos^''''  —  there  are  no  children 
about  the  house,  —  say  some  of  them  ;  and  with  such  a 
recommendation,  and  balconies  on  the  sunny  side,  what 
more  in  reason  could  you  crave  } 

Alas !  reason,  like  most  elementary  substances,  is 
rarely  to  be  found  in  a  pure  state.  Custom,  somehow 
or  other,  manages  to  keep  up  a  sort  of  chemical  com- 
bination with  it.  People  will  wear  boots  and  shoes,  if 
they  can  get  them,  notwithstanding  the  "  annoyance 
and  vexation,  astonishment  and  surprise,"  with  which 
Mr.  Urquhart  regards  so  abnormal  a  condition  of  the 
extremities.  Travellers  who  have  become  viciously 
accustomed  to  fires  and  carpets  in  cold  weather,  and 
are  not  prepared  to  appreciate  a  mixture  of  the  entire 
animal  and  vegetable  kingdoms,  in  one  pot,  for  din- 
ner, will  seek  to  accommodate  their  prejudices,  though 
ever  so  unreasonable.  I  do  not  mean  to  sav  that 
they  are  right,  and  Spaniards  wrong ;  for  Adam's  un- 
sophisticated palate  might  perhaps  have  found  in  turtle- 
soup  and  palis  de  foie  gras  much  less  of  the  eternal 
fitness,  than  in  the  wildest  gazpacho  that  Iberian  peas- 
ant ever  supped.  I  only  suggest  it  as  a  fact,  that 
tastes  differ. 

Until  of  late  years,  the  number  of  foreigners  visiting 
Madrid  would  hardly  have  justified  any  extensive  or 
costly  preparation  for  their  special  entertainment.  Even 
now  they  are  so  few,  in  comparison  with  the  throngs 


8  SPAIN. 

which  fill  the  other  capitals  of  Europe,  that  it  would 
be  altogether  unreasonable  for  them  to  expect  such  a 
reception  as  elsewhere  is  aflbrded  them.  Indeed,  in 
Spain  itself  I  found  no  city,  among  those  I  visited  upon 
the  coast  or  near  it,  which  was  not  greatly  in  advance 
of  Madrid,  in  the  particular  referred  to.  Barcelona, 
Cadiz,  Seville,  and  especially  Malaga,  were  beyond 
comparison  better  provided.  Nevertheless,  with  a  little 
patience  and  the  aid  of  a  friend's  experience,  one  may 
still  be  comfortable  in  Madrid,  —  nay,  and  have  luxury 
too,  if  he  be  willing  to  pay  for  it.  At  the  table  dlwte 
of  the  Vizcaina,  in  the  magnificent  house  of  Cordero, 
which  occupies  the  site  of  the  once  famous  convent  of 
San  Felipe  el  Real,  on  the  Calle  Mayor,  there  may 
be  found  excellent  society  for  those  who  speak  French 
or  Spanish,  and  a  modified  nationality  of  diet  which 
has  carried  comfort  to  the  bosom  of  many  a  wayfarer. 
Of  restaurants,  there  are  of  course  many,  some  of  them 
indifferent,  but  the  greater  part  very  bad.  The  cafe 
of  L'Hardi,  immortalized  by  Dumas  for  its  "  nourriture 
honorable,''''  still  nourishes  as  honorably  as  in  the  days 
of  the  royal  nuptials,  and  the  Fonda  de  San  Luis,  in 
the  Calle  de  la  Montera,  may  almost  be  said  to  herald 
the  day  when,  as  in  the  land  of  its  saintly  patron,  cook- 
ery will  be  a  fine  art  and  keep  a  Muse  of  its  own  ! 

Quiet  people,  who  propose  residing  at  Madrid  for  any 
length  of  time,  and  prefer  having  things  more  under 
their  control  than  the  restaurant  or  the  table  dliote  will 
allow,  may  do  so  satisfactorily  now,  without  much 
trouble.  Excellent  apartments,  with  comfortable  fire- 
places and  all  other  desirable  appointments,  are  begin- 
ning to  be  offered  for  rent  in  the  most  agreeable  and 


SPAIN.  » 

convenient  quarters  of  tlie  city.  With  a  good  servant, 
commanded  at  his  peril  to  overlook  the  huuseliold  and 
keep  vigils  over  your  flesh-pots  as  a  knight  over  his 
virgin  armor,  you  may  live  and  prosper,  at  one  of 
these  establishments,  as  well  as  a  man  need  hope  to  do 
away  from  home.  I\Iy  first  experience  was  at  the 
corner  of  the  Calle  Mayor  and  the  Calle  del  Correo, 
with  a  range  of  five  balconies  looking  upon  the  Puerta 
del  Sol,  and  in  the  very  heart  of  all  that  was  lively  and 
bright  to  be  heard  and  seen.  Not  a  pageant  but  passed 
that  way,  —  not  a  gallant  regiment  that  went  to  post  or 
to  parade,  but  favored  me  with  the  sound  of  its  trum- 
pets and  the  glitter  of  its  arms.  Work  and  sleep,  how- 
ever, are  sometimes  as  needful  as  hearing  and  seeing, 
and  in  such  a  locality  I  found  it  somewhat  diflicult 
to  pay  proper  attention  to  either.  The  noises  of  the 
day  were  by  no  means  careful  to  close  their  ac- 
counts at  midnight,  and  it  was  painfully  early,  indeed, 
when  the  bells  of  the  goats  and  the  clatter  of  the  milk- 
venders  in  the  street  below  me  would  begin  to  insist 
that  it  was  morning.  There  were  other  good  reasons 
too  for  change,  more  potent  than  even  distraction  and 
unrest.  In  the  sketches  of  my  former  experience  in 
Spain,  I  endeavored  to  contribute  something  towards 
removing  the  popular  prejudice  that  the  garlic-crop  is 
the  chief  staple  of  the  Peninsula.  I  even  went  so  far 
as  to  say,  that  the  esculent  in  question  had  never 
once  crossed  my  own  particular  path,  during  a  three 
months'  excursion  of  no  very  limited  range.  In  sack- 
cloth and  ashes  I  must  now  confess,  that,  having  gone 
farther,  I  fared  worse  ;  and  that,  although  my  origi- 
nal observation  was  correct,  so  far  as  the  customs  of 


10  SPAIN. 

the  better  classes  are  concerned  and  the  general  ex- 
perience of  a  traveller  who  frequents   the   best  inns 
in    the    best    towns,    there    is,    nevertheless,    garlic 
to  be  found  within  even  the  sacred  precincts  of  the 
court!     The  amiable    Dolores,  in  whose   balconies  I 
gloried,  did  vow  and  plight  her  Andalusian  faith  that 
she  despised  the  aromatic  poison,  and  would  not  suffer 
it  to  pass  her  threshold  ;  but  there  are  certain  of  the 
senses  which  sometimes  overpower  even  faith,  and  I 
shall   ever  believe   that,   had   Dolores    been   Pandora, 
tocino  y  ajo,  bacon  and  garlic,  would  have  been  found 
at  the  bottom  of  her  box.    I  changed  my  quarters  ac- 
cordingly to  No.  1  of  the  Calle  de  Pontejos,  in  the  same 
vast  building,  and  there,  on  the  first  floor,  fronting  on 
a  quiet  street,  with  all  the  sunshine  that  I  needed,  excel- 
lent apartments,  a  good  landlord,  and  a  most  desirable 
location,  I  spent  a  pleasant  winter  and  some  portion  of 
a  bright  and  cheerful  spring.     If  Don  Jose,  the  pren- 
dero  of  the  Calle  del  Correo,  should  be  living  when  the 
reader  arrives  at  Madrid,  let  him  be  sent  for  straight- 
ways,  and  if  there  be  room  in  his  house  let  the  reader 
install  himself  at  once,  and  ask  questions  afterwards, 
if  he  has  a  mind. 

There  is  no  lack  of  good  servants,  or  at  all  events 
of  good  material  for  servants,  anywhere  in  Spain.  Hon- 
esty, fidelity,  and  that  best  of  courtesies  which  springs 
from  self-respect  and  gives  dignity  to  the  humblest  sta- 
tion, are  characteristics  which  mark  them,  as  a  class, 
to  an  extent  of  which  I  believe  no  other  country  fur- 
nishes an  example.  As  a  consequence,  —  perhaps, 
in  some  degree,  a  cause,  —  in  no  country  is  the  relation 
of  servants  and  their  employers  made  so  agreeable  by 


SPAIN.  1 1 

respectful  and  afTectionate  familiarity.  This  remark 
applies  to  all  ranks,  without  exception,  and  there  is 
something  in  the  innate  and  peculiar  politeness  and 
high  tone  belonging  to  the  national  character,  among 
even  the  humblest  and  least  educated,  which  prevents 
the  usual  ill  cfTccts  of  that  sort  of  freedom  elsewhere. 

Madrid  is  too  much  of  a  capital  to  be  without  the 
proper  supply  of  thieving  valets.  Intriguing  masters 
are  abundant,  and  "  like  master,  like  man."  Never- 
theless, good  servants  may  be  found  there  readily,  and  at 
moderate  wages,  provided  the  traveller  be  able  to  speak 
to  them  in  their  own  language.  Those  who  possess 
any  familiarity  with  foreign  tongues  are  very  few,  and 
of  course  command  higher  salaries.  Of  English  scarce 
any  of  them  know  any  thing.  Out  of  iNIadrid  and  the 
commercial  cities,  it  is  extremely  difficult,  indeed,  to 
find  attendants  whose  acquirements  go  beyond  the  Cas- 
tilian  and  their  native  dialect,  and  this  must  be  added 
to  the  thousand  other  reasons  which  continually  thrust 
themselves  upon  a  traveller  of  any  intelligence,  to  con- 
vince him,  that,  without  at  least  a  fair  acquaintance 
with  the  language  of  the  country,  it  is  utterly  impossi- 
ble for  any  one  to  visit  it,  with  any  prospect  of  com- 
prehending or  enjoying  it,  except  in  the  most  super- 
ficial and  unsatisfactoi-y  manner.  I  am  more  firmly 
impressed  than  ever,  since  my  second  visit  to  Spain, 
with  the  conviction  that  ignorance  in  this  particular  is 
the  chief  source  of  the  thousand  ridiculous  and  roman- 
tic misrepresentations,  of  which  that  country  has  been 
made  the  victim,  more  frequently  than  any  other;  and 
upon  which  foreign  —  especially  English  and  Ameri- 
can —  opinion  in  regard  to  her  customs  and  laws,  her 


12  SPAIN. 

morals  and  religion,  is  so  largely  and  erroneously 
founded.  "  What  say  you,  then,"  says  Nerissa,  "  to 
Faulconbridge,  the  young  baron  of  England  ?  "  "  You 
know,"  replies  Portia,  "  I  say  nothing  to  him,  for  he 
understands  not  me,  nor  I  him  ;  he  hath  neither  Latin, 
French,  nor  Italian ;  and  you  will  come  into  the  court 
and  swear  that  I  have  a  poor  pennyworth  in  the  Eng- 
lish." To  this  passage  the  learned  Warburton,  with 
characteristic  acuteness,  appends  a  note,  informing  us 
that  it  is  "  a  satire  on  the  ignorance  of  young  Eng- 
lish travellers  in  our  author's  time."  Alas!  Shak- 
speare  wrote  for  all  times,  and  there  are  Faulconbridges 
who  never  saw  England ! 


SPAIN.  13 


III. 


Fou>'DATiox,  Locality,  Climate,  Dress,  Health,  «S:c.  of 

Madrid. 

It  is  not  easy  to  fathom  the  reasons  of  kings  or 
women,  —  at  least  so  says  an  ancient,  if  not  wise,  saw. 
To  express  any  opinion  upon  the  latter  branch  of 
the  subject  would  be  altogether  extrajudicial  and  unne- 
cessary here  ;  but  the  selection,  or  rather  the  creation, 
of  Madrid  as  the  capital  of  Spain,  may  be  taken  as  a 
fair  argument  to  support  the  anti-royal  phase  of  the  prov- 
erb. Some  say  that  Charles  the  Fifth  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  its  greatness,  from  a  fondness  he  contracted  for 
it  during  a  residence  which  cured  him  of  the  ague. 
If  so,  posterity  has  certainly  paid  dear  for  what  would 
now  be  accomplished,  probably,  by  a  three  days'  course 
of  quinine.  Philip  the  Second,  whose  exquisite  taste  in 
such  matters  is  further  exemplified  by  the  charming  site 
of  the  Escorial,  inherited,  it  is  likely, the  imperial  liver  and 
predilections,  for  he  fixed  his  court  at  Madrid,  in  1560. 
Forty  years  later,  Philip  the  Third  translated  the  royal 
residence  to  Valladolid,  but  weighty  interests  and  in- 


14  SPAIN. 

fluences  were  so  wielded  as  to  compel  his  return  after 
a  five  years'  absence.  From  that  time  to  the  present 
Madrid  has  been,  emphatically,  la  Corte,  the  Court, 
and  nothing  else.  For  its  elevation  to  that  dignity 
there  is  not,  nor  has  there  ever  been  given,  that  I  am 
aware,  one  plausible  reason,  except  that  its  position  is, 
to  a  certain  degree,  central.  Undoubtedly  this  would 
be  the  best  of  reasons,  if  the  centrality  were  any  thing 
but  a  matter  of  measurement,  —  if  the  location,  in 
reference  to  industry,  commerce,  or  agriculture,  exer- 
cised any  centripetal  or  other  favorable  influence  what- 
ever. The  top  of  a  mountain  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile 
plain  would  be  eminently  central,  and  the  Grand  Lama 
might  like  it  for  a  sacred  residence  ;  yet  it  would  be 
an  up-hill  sort  of  business,  to  prove  that  it  ought  to  be 
chosen,  for  its  centrality,  as  the  site  of  a  metropolis. 

Madrid  has  no  commerce,  nor  the  means  of  any. 
Its  inhabitants  must  eat  and  wear  clothing,  and  the 
materials  therefor  must  pass  the  walls,  within  which 
they  must  set  in  motion,  well  or  ill,  certain  departments 
of  necessary  industry.  Beyond  this,  no  trade  enters 
or  abides,  and  there  is  none  at  all  that  passes  out.  The 
Manzanares,  which  trickles  by  the  city,  has  scarce 
water  enough  to  furnish  even  a  court  poet  with  ma- 
terials for  any  thing  exceeding  the  limits  of  an  epi- 
gram. The  surrounding  country  is  barren  and  arid, 
sparsely  populated,  and  without  attraction  of  any  sort ; 
so  that,  on  the  whole,  whatever  there  is  in  Madrid  of 
population,  wealth,  industry,  or  power  is  altogether  fac- 
titious. It  is  the  capital,  because  it  was  made  so,  and 
it  is  only  populous,  wealthy,  industrious,  or  powerful, 
because  it  is  the  capital.     If  it  be  four  thousand  and 


SPAIN.  15 

nineteen  years  old,  as  we  have  the  ofTicial  autliority  of 
the  Guia  cle  Forastcros  of  1850  for  saying,  we  must 
admit  that  few  places  have  profited  as  little  by  age  ; 
and  if  all  the  Chaldeans  and  Phoenicians,  Hebrews, 
Greeks,  and  Romans,  whom  the  antiquaries  suppose  to 
have  busied  themselves  with  its  name,  gave  half  as 
much  attention  to  its  education,  it  has  certainly  a  sad 
account  to  settle  for  neglected  opportunities.  The  ad- 
vantages which  it  has  enjoyed,  within  the  range  of  au- 
thentic chronology,  would  have  made  of  fair  Seville 
an  imperial  city  such  as  Europe  scarcely  knows,  or 
have  built  up  again  at  Cordova  the  magnificence  of 
Abderrahman's  proudest  day. 

I  have  said,  that  when  we  entered  Madrid  it  was  envel- 
oped in  a  thick  fog.  This  was  considered  extraordinary, 
and  especially  so  because  it  lasted  about  a  week,  during 
which  one  might  have  imagined  himsclfin  London,  but  for 
the  fact  that  the  Madrid  mists  appeared  to  be  legitimate- 
ly derived  from  pure  water  ;  whereas  the  corresponding 
commodity  in  the  British  capital  has,  to  an  unfamiliar 
eye,  the  appearance  and  density  of  highly  vaporized 
molasses.  Whatever  defects  there  may  be  in  the  win- 
ter atmosphere  of  Madrid,  humidity  and  obscurity  form 
generally  no  part  of  them.  I  have  nowhere  seen,  ex- 
cept in  the  United  States,  and  there  only  during  the 
prevalence  of  the  coldest  winds  from  the  northwest, 
any  thing  to  equal  the  pervading  clearness  and  splen- 
dor of  the  Madrid  sky,  and  the  transparency  of  its  air. 
As  a  general  thing,  it  lacks,  like  ours,  the  soft  and  ge- 
nial tints  of  the  Italian  heavens,  yet  often,  when  the  sun 
was  going  down,  I  have  stood  in  the  gay  avenues  of 
the  Retiro,  or  on  the  high  grounds  near  the  gate  of 


16  SPAIN. 

Alcala,  and  have  seen  the  many  cross-crowned  spires 
and  towers  of  the  city  bathed  in  a  light  so  golden,  with 
a  background  of  such  deep  and  various  purple,  roseate, 
and  crimson,  that  I  have  almost  doubted  whether  even 
Naples  could  boast  of  any  thing  more  gorgeous. 

It  would  be  well  if  as  much  could  be  said  in  favor 
of  the  climate  as  of  the  sky.  When  Spain  is  spoken 
of  with  us,  most  people,  without  any  particular  reflection, 
have  an  idea  immediately  presented  to  them  of  a  far 
southern  country,  with  clustering  vines  and  perfumed 
orange-groves.  I  was  frequently  congratulated,  before  I 
left  home,  upon  the  delightful  opportunity  I  should  have 
of  spending  my  winter  in  so  mild  a  climate  as  that  of 
Madrid.     A  pleasant  fancy,  truly  ! 

The  Spanish  capital  is  in  a  latitude  two  degrees  or 
thereabouts  higher  than  that  of  Washington,  and  stands 
upon  the  Platform  of  Castile,  at  an  elevation  (Madoz  tells 
us)  of  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the 
sea.  The  rarity  of  the  atmosphere  produced  by  this 
latter  cause  would  be  quite  sufficient  of  itself,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  to  make  new,  if  not  unpleas- 
ant, impressions  upon  unfamiliar  lungs  and  nerves.  I 
thought  —  though  it  may  have  been  fancy  —  that  at  all 
times  I  perceived  a  tenuity  and  pungency  about  it  to 
which  I  was  unaccustomed.  But  this  is  not  the  worst 
by  a  great  deal.  From  any  unobstructed  point  of 
view  within  the  city  or  about  it,  you  notice  that  the 
horizon  towards  the  north  and  west  is  encircled  by  the 
high  and  snowy  mountains  of  Somosierra  and  Gua- 
darrama.  To  the  blasts  which  roll  down  from  these  latter 
hills,  and  even  more  to  the  still  and  subtile  influence  of 
their  cold  proximity,  is  the  fatal  insalubrity  of  the  situ- 


SPAIN.  17 

ation  to  be  chiefly  traced.  When  the  wind  blows  fronrj 
that  quarter,  every  one  is  in  terror,  and  no  mrin  is 
deemed  prudent  who  ventures  into  the  street  without 
covering  his  chest  and  throat,  and  especially  his  mouth, 
with  the  einhozo  of  his  cloak.  You  may  walk  for 
squares  without  seeing  any  more  of  the  human  face 
divine,  than  a  sort  of  zone,  bounded  on  the  north  at 
the  eyebrows  by  a  hat-brim,  and  on  the  south  by  a 
horizontal  strip  of  velvet  cloak-facing,  running  perpen- 
dicular to  the  bridge  of  the  nose.  I  very  early  satisfied 
myself — whether  justly  or  not  I  will  not  dogmatically 
say  —  that  the  frequent  puhnonias  (or  pneumonias), 
which  were  so  fatal  at  such  times,  might  be  the  result, 
in  a  great  measure,  of  this  practice,  by  means  of  which 
the  lungs  were  accustomed  only  to  the  obstructed  in- 
halation of  warm  air,  and  rendered  sensible,  in  a  ten- 
fold degree,  to  any  accidental  or  necessary  exposure. 
That,  without  any  particular  robustness  of  health,  and 
certainly  without  having  especially  avoided  opening  my 
mouth  in  any  wind  or  weather,  I  am  now  alive  and 
story-telling,  may  go,  as  a  fact,  for  what  it  is  worth,  to 
sustain  my  notion.  Fashion,  I  think,  is  fast  working 
a  practical  revolution  in  the  habits  of  the  people  on  this 
point,  which  could  not  be  produced,  one  might  safely 
swear,  by  a  century  of  mere  medical  disquisition  or 
other  manner  of  preaching.  Cloaks  are  going  rapidly 
out  of  vogue,  and  the  beau  monde  generally  have 
handed  themselves  over  to  the  undraped  dominion  of 
the  French  overcoat.  On  windy  days,  when  the  pul- 
monia  is  supposed  to  be  whistling  around  every  corner 
and  dancing  in  the  deserted  plazas,  the  more  daringly 
elegant  attempt  a  compromise   between  their  love  of 

2 


18  SPAIN. 

Paris  and  their  fear  of  death,  by  the  use  of  a  large, 
separate  fur  collar,  covering  the  whole  neck  and  jaws, 
and  giving  a  most  top-heavy  and  ludicrous  appearance 
to  the  scanty  and  skirt-denied  paletot.  Here  and  there, 
one  of  fashion's  most  reckless  desperadoes  may  be  seen 
without  even  this  bungling  and  ungraceful  protection, 
so  that  I  think  the  days  of  the  embozo''s  popularity  as  a 
life-preserver  may  be  fairly  said  to  be  numbered.  Un- 
less, however,  the  police  of  the  city  be  improved  in 
sundry  unsavory  particulars,  to  which  every  traveller's 
reminiscences  will  point  him  at  once,  the  popularity  of 
the  embozo  may  still  be  prolonged,  by  transferring  its 
protecting  folds  from  the  mouth,  which  needs  them  not, 
to  the  nose,  which  needs  thern  greatly. 

But  it  is  the  still,  small  voice  from  tke  mountains,  and 
not  the  loud  breath  of  the  tempest,  which  bears  the  fa- 
tal message  oftenest.  Bright  and  apparently  bland  as 
the  weather  may  be,  during  the  winter  or  the  spring, 
you  have  but  to  remove  yourself  for  a  moment  from 
the  direct  influence  of  the  sun's  rays,  to  experience 
the  most  marked  and  unw^holesome  difference  of  tem- 
perature. Sunshine  and  shade,  town  and  country, 
day  and  night,  seem  to  belong,  severally,  to  differ- 
ent climates.  The  clothing  which  oppresses  you  on 
your  way  to  the  Prado,  an  hour  before  sunset,  is  too 
light  for  comfort  when  you  return  in  the  dusk,  and  as 
you  enter  the  sheltered  portal  of  one  of  the  huge  houses 
which  are  now  so  numerous,  you  long,  at  midday,  for 
the  cloak  which  would  have  nearly  stifled  you  upon  the 
street. 

Almost  every  one  has  heard  of  the  proverb,  which 
says  that  "  the  air  of  Madrid  will  kill  a  man,  but  not 


SPAIN.  19 

put  out    a   candle."     Many   of   the    Madrilenos    think 
that  there  is  something  in  the  composition  of  tlieir  at- 
mosphere,   independently    of  its    rarity   and    tempera- 
ture, which  entitles  it  to  this  bad  name  ;  but  the  same 
reproach,  it  strikes  me,  would  apply,  with  greater  or  less 
force,  to  the  air  of  any  city  so  closely  fenced  about  by 
snowy  mountains,     I  remember  to  have  noticed    pre- 
cisely the  same  characteristics — to  a  diminished   de- 
gree, perhaps  —  in  the  climate   of  Florence.     It  was 
like  a  voyage  from  Indus  to  the  Pole,  to  pass  from  the 
glowing  sunshine  of  the  early  spring,  upon  the  Cascine 
or  the  Lungo  V  Arno,  to  the  cold,  still,  collapsing  influ- 
ence of  the  narrow,  unsunned  streets.     No  doubt  the 
memories  of  older  and  better  travellers  will  shiver  over 
similar  experiences.     But  whether  Madrid  be  peculiar 
or  not  in  the  quality  of  its  air,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
about  the  insalubrity  of  its  climate.     The  young  die 
very  young,  and  numerously  ;    the   vigorous  years  of 
life  are  in  great  peril,  always,  from  every  variety  of 
inflammatory  disease  ;    and  age  comes  on  with  rapid 
pace,  and  many  ills,  to  the  most  of  those  who  linger. 
Nervous  disorders  are  a  staple  commodity.     Apoplex- 
ies were  of  more  frequent  occurrence,  it  seemed  to  me, 
than  in  any  bills  of  mortality  I  had  ever  seen.     Even 
when  the  thermometer  indicated  but  a  moderate  winter 
temperature,  —  the   freezing   point   or  thereabouts,  — 
there  was  something  so  penetrating   in  the  air,  —  so 
searching  within  .doors  and  without,  —  that  it  seemed 
far  colder  than  a  temperature  many  degrees  lower  any- 
where else.     The  pulmonia  then  walked  alike  at  noon- 
day and  in  darkness  ;  nor  were  its  arrows  aimed  at  hu- 
manity alone.     The  horse-guards  at  the  palace,  whose 


20  SPAIN. 

fine  appointments  and  gallant  chargers  attracted  so 
much  attention,  were  dispensed  with  in  midwinter,  — 
their  horses  dying  almost  nightly  from  this  terrible 
and  rapid  scourge.  Late  in  the  spring,  when  I  visited 
the  royal  stables,  a  beautiful  stallion  was  shivering  with 
the  death-agony,  and  they  told  me  his  disease  was  pul- 
mom  a. 

If  I  am  asked  how  it  is  possible  that  king,  minister, 
and  noble  can  so  far  overcome  the  inborn  mortal  dread 
of  dissolution,  as  to  live  thus  ever  in  the  valley  of  its 
shadow,  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  give  a  more  satisfac- 
tory reply  than   the    stereotyped  Spanish  extinguisher 
upon  impertinent   or   inconvenient  curiosity,  —  Quien 
sabe  7  Who  knows  ?     In  the  superb  apartments  of  one 
of  the  most  luxurious  palaces  of  Europe,  —  surrounded 
by  every  gu  ardand  fence  which  human  skill  and  care 
can  build  up  against  fleshly  ills,  —  it  is  perhaps  not  diffi- 
cult to  understand  how  royalty  can  bring  itself  to  bear 
the  risks,  of  which  it  knows  and  feels  comparatively 
little.     While  winter  is  still  lingering'  in  Madrid,  their 
Majesties  can  seek  the  early  fragrance  of  an   almost 
Andalusian  spring,  among  the  groves  and  fountains  of 
beautiful  Aranjuez.     When  summer  burns  the  blood  of 
all  sojourners  in  the  capital,  their  Majesties  find  health 
and  vigor  in  the  mountain  freshness  of  La  Granja.     To 
those  who  have  not   such    resources,  the   honors   and 
profits  of  their  several  pursuits  supply  some  compensa- 
tion, I   suppose,   for    perils    such    as   they   encounter. 
"  Where  the  king  is,"  says  the  Castilian  proverb,  "  there 
is  the  court."     Where  there    is    grain    to  be  trodden 
out,  and  in  a  somewhat  unmuzzled  manner  besides,  the 
oxen  are  apt  to  congregate.     So  long  as  Madrid  shall  be 


SPAIN.  21 

the  fountain  rind  reservoir  of  favor,  the  puhnonias  fuU 
minantes  will  thunder  in  vain,  as  they  have  thundered 
long,  to  keep  the  thirsty  from  going  up  to  drink. 
And  who  can  think  it  strange  ?  A  residence  in  Paris 
will  extinguish  a  race  in  three  generations,  and  yet 
numberless  families  go  there  and  become  extinct.  Half 
a  generation  will  usually  answer  the  same  purpose, 
quite  as  effectually,  among  the  golden  Golgothas  of 
California,  and  yet  we  have  not  heard,  for  all  that,  that 
the  Golgothas  are  lacking  skulls  ! 


22  SPAIN. 


IV. 


PUERTA  DEL  SOL. PuELIC  HaBITS  OF  THE  MaDRILENOS. 

The    Prado.  —  Equipages.   —  Horsemen.  —  Atocha 
Walk.  —  Women  of  Madrid. 

Whosoever  desires  to  know  any  thing  of  Madrid,  or 

the  people  that  live  in  it,  must  make  himself  acquainted, 

at   once,  with    La  Puerta  del  Sol,  —  the  Gate  of  the 

Sun.     It  is  not  worth  while  to  be  at  all  mythological  on 

the  subject,  for  the  Puerta  is  itself  no  gate,  nor  has  it 

any  appurtenance  whatever  to  remind  you  of  Aurora's 

rosy  fingers.     It  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  central, 

open  plaza,  —  not  very  large  nor  elegant,  —  into  which 

nine  or  ten  of  the  chief  streets  discharge  their  crowds. 

A  congress  of  cab-horses  are  the  only  representatives  of 

Apollo's  radiant  steeds,  and  the  beautiful  Hours  have 

for  their  sole  abiding-place  the  dial  of  a  large  clock,  in 

the  church  front  of  Nuestra  Senora  del  Buen  Suceso. 

The  graceless,  though  fashionable,  temple  to  which  the 

clock  belongs,  and  the  tall,  stilted  facade  of  theCasa  de 

Correos,  are  the  only  and  poor  substitutes  for  the  "/am- 

mantia  mcenia  nmndi."     The  sun,  however,  —  out  of 

gratitude,  I  suppose,  for  the  complimentary  use  of  his 


SPAIN.  23 

name,  —  shines  with  peculiar  good-will  upon  his  Pucrta, 
and  there  is  no  knowing  the  amount  of  fire-wood,  or 
rather  of  charcoal,  which  is  thus  saved  to  the  gossips 
of  Madrid.  The  Prado,  though  a  beautiful  and  genial 
walk,  is  too  far  out  of  town  for  lounging  or  midday 
access,  and  too  extensive  for  that  cosy  contact  which 
your  genuine  tattler  loves.  The  Plaza  de  Oriente, 
down  by  the  palace,  is  also  too  far  from  tlie  centre, 
and  receives,  besides,  in  rather  too  direct  a  manner,  the 
breezes  from  the  Guadarrama  Mountains,  whose  grand 
white  summits  furnish  it  with  so  superb  a  prospect.  But 
the  Puerta  del  Sol  is  as  accessible  as  it  is  warm,  and  no 
true  Madrileno  can  he  be,  who  does  not  bask  away, 
within  its  teeming  precincts,  the  largest  portion  of  his 
daylight  life.  Even  when  the  sun  has  gone  down,  and 
there  is  no  moon  to  take  up  the  wondrous  tales  which 
are  always  being  told  there,  the  tall  gas-lamp,  in  the 
centre  of  the  plaza,  holds  a  cloak-wrapped  court  of  its 
own  ;  so  that  to  have  passed  through  the  Puerta  del 
Sol  when  there  was  no  one  about  it  to  speak  or  to  lis- 
ten, a  man  must  have  kept  later  hours  than  her  Maj- 
esty's watchmen,  and  more  faithful  vigils,  by  far. 
There  must,  of  necessity,  be  a  great  deal  of  gossip  in 
every  capital,  where  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  govern, 
to  intrigue,  and  be  amused.  Madrid  being  of  that  class 
of  capitals,  preeminently,  is  as  full  of  scandal  as  the 
sewing  society  of  a  village  in  a  highly  moral  neighbor- 
hood. The  Puerta  is  the  great  condenser  of  all  its 
small-talk,  —  its  mentidero  general,  or  general  lie-fac- 
tory, —  and  cannot,  with  such  functions,  afford  to  be,  for 
many  moments,  empty  or  disengaged. 

I  have  taken  other  occasion  to  touch  upon  the  fond- 


24  SPAIN. 

ness  of  the  Spaniards  for  out-door  life.     Madrid  exhibits 
this,  as  it  does  the  most  of  their  pecuharities,  in  a  very 
extreme  point  of  view.     The    inhabitants  —  the  gente 
f.na,  at  all  events —  are  no  very  early  risers.     It  lacks 
but  little  of  noon  when  the  most  of  them  have  broken 
their  fast  and  are  ready  for  their  daily  occupations,  if 
they  have  any.     If  you  call  familiarly  upon  a  gentle- 
man, about  twelve,  it  is  probable  his  servant  will  tell 
you,  —  not  that  he  has  gone  to  his  business,  or  indeed 
anywhere  in  particular,  —  but  that  "  ha  ido  su  merced 
a  la  calle,''''  —  his  worship  has    gone  into  the    street! 
The  particularity  of  this  information  reminds   you,  at 
first,  of  the  testamentary  liberality  of  the  Irish  gentle- 
man, who  left  his  son  a  million,  and  the  wide  world  to 
make  it  in,  but  a  short  experience  teaches  you  that  it 
is  little  less  than  a  specific  direction  to  the  Puerta  del 
Sol.     There,  from  an  early  hour,  laborers  in  search  of 
hire    have    been    watching    for    customers,  —  venders 
of  all  manner  of  pet  dogs  and  small  wares  have  been 
clattering  and  chaffering,  —  newsmen  have  been  cry- 
ing   their  tidings,   and    selling   to   all  who  have   been 
fools  enough  to  buy.     There,  too,  there  are  a  hundred 
chances  to  one  that  you  find  your  friend,  in  the  midst 
of  a  group,  at  the  foot  of  the  Calle  de  la  Montera,  puflT- 
ing  with  enthusiastic  energy  at  his  cigar,  while  he  de- 
vours, or  pours  into  ears  as  greedy  as  his  own,  the  last 
rumors  of  a  ministerial  catastrophe  or  the  freshest  de- 
velopments of  social  transgression.     The  length  of  time 
that  he  will  pass  where  you  find  him  will  depend  en- 
tirely upon  the  amount  of  gossip  to  be  had.     His  daily 
labors,  be  they  what  they  may,  and  especially  if  he  be  an 
emphado^  —  a  placeman,  —  as  almost  every  body  is, 


SPAIN.  25 

are  matters  of  but  little  concern,  and  indefinite  suscepti- 
bility of  post|)onennent.  As,  however,  the  Piierta  is  not 
precisely  fashionable  until  somewhat  later  in  the  after- 
noon, it  is  probable  he  will  proceed,  after  a  moderate 
instalment  of  discourse,  to  refresh  the  place  of  his 
business  with  the  light  of  his  countenance.  How  much 
of  his  time,  if  he  be  in  a  public  office,  will  be  spent  in 
lightinir  and  religliting  his  accustomed  succession  of 
cigarritos,  and  increasing  his  own  and  the  official 
stock  of  exciting  information,  the  initiated  can  tell,  and 
may,  if  they  choose.  Not  many  hours,  however,  will 
have  elapsed,  before  the  foot  of  the  Montera  shall  see 
him  again,  in  the  midst  of  still  shorter  paletots  and 
yellower  gloves  than  those  that  were  visible  in  tlie 
less  consecrated  moments  of  his  morning  visit. 

As  the  time  for  the  parade  upon  the  Prado  comes 
on,  —  an  hour  at  least  before  the  setting  of  the  sun, 
when  the  weather  is  moderate  ent)ugh  to  permit  it, — 
the  Puerta  del  Sol  begins  to  give  up  its  gayest  and 
most  gallant  loungers.  The  church  of  Buen  Suceso 
occupies  the  extremity  of  the  acute  angle  formed  by 
the  streets  of  Alcala  and  San  Geronimo,  both  of  which, 
issuing  from  the  Puerta,  strike  the  Prado  at  diffijrent 
points.  The  larger  portion  of  the  crowd  passes  up  the 
Alcala,  which  is  one  of  the  stateliest  and  most  noble 
avenues  I  have  seen,  —  wide  at  its  commencement,  and 
increasing  in  width  and  beauty,  until,  crossing  the  Prado 
and  passing  alongside  the  Retire  gardens,  it  reaches 
the  city  walls,  at  the  superb  triumphal  arch  known  as 
the  Gate  of  Alcala.  The  Carrera  de  San  Geronimo, 
however,  is  the  line  of  march  for  the  more  choice  and 
exclusive  spirits,  who  linger  for  a  moment,  in  passing, 


26  SPAIN. 

at  the  cafe  of  L'Hardi,  to  derange  their  digestion  with 
dear  confectionery,  and  fortify  themselves,  by  a  glass 
of  muscatel,  against  the  toils  of  the  walk  and  the 
perilous  onslaught  of  unmerciful  bright  eyes. 

The  Prado  has  been  often  described,  and  I  shall 
only  say  of  it,  that  it  extends  along  the  whole  eastern 
side  of  the  city,  from  the  Gate  of  Recoletos,  up  to  the 
Gate  and  Convent  of  Atocha.  In  that  part  of  it,  called 
the  Salon,  which  lies  between  the  streets  of  Alcala  and 
San  Geronimo,  directly  facing  the  monument  to  the 
heroes  of  the  Dos  de  Mayo  (May  2d,  1808),  it  was 
fashionable  for  all  the  world  to  congregate,  during  the 
earlier  weeks  of  the  season.  I  have  often  seen  it  so 
full,  of  a  bright  afternoon,  that 

"  Those  navigators  must  be  able  seamen  " 

who  could  find  a  channel  through  it.  While  the 
pedestrians,  thus  packed  at  such  close  quarters,  went 
through  the  pedetentous  performance  which  is  called 
"  walking,"  in  Spain,  the  long  broad  avenue  which 
runs  through  the  whole  Prado  was  lined  with  gay 
equipages  and  equestrians.  One  would  think,  from 
Mr.  Ford's  description  of  the  "  antediluvian  carriages, 
with  ridiculous  coachmen  and  grotesque  footmen  to 
match,"  that  Madrid  was  a  sort  of  Pompeii  of  coaches, 
under  whose  crust  of  lava  or  ashes  there  was  nothing 
to  be  found,  in  the  way  of  a  conveyance,  of  much 
later  date  than  Pliny  the  elder.  The  learned  licenciate, 
Don  Pedro  Fernandez  Navarrete,  in  his  Conserva- 
cion  de  Monarquias,  expressed  his  fears  to  the  coun- 
cil of  Philip  the  Third,  that  the  kingdom  might  share 
the  fate  of  the  house  of  Jacob,  according  to  the  proph- 


SPAIN. 


27 


et  Isaiali,  "  because  tlie  land  was  full  of  horses,  neitlicr 
was  there  any  end  of  the  chariots."  I  should  fidly 
concur  with  Mr.  Ford  in  thinking,  that  to  scourge  the 
Peninsula  generally  for  excessive  luxury  in  coaches 
would  be  a  mysterious,  and,  to  human  eyes,  a  rath- 
er severe  dispensation.  But  I  am  bound  to  say,  on 
the  other  hand,  that  in  the  capital  I  think  the  mani- 
festation of  elegance  and  good  taste  in  equipages  was 
general  and  striking.  A  few  days  after  my  arrival,  I 
witnessed  the  funeral  of  the  Conde  de  Ouate,  a  gran- 
dee of  Spain,  which  took  place  from  his  palace  in  the 
Calle  Mayor,  nearly  opposite  my  lodgings.  The  dis- 
play of  coaches,  horses,  and  liveries  was  most  ample 
and  magnificent ;  quite  as  much  so,  I  am  sure,  as  any 
similar  occasion  would  have  elicited  in  London  or  Paris. 
It  is  no  great  compliment,  perhaps,  to  the  Madrilenos 
to  say  this,  for  nearly  all  their  finest  carriages  are  of 
English  or  French  manufacture,  principally  the  latter; 
but  be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  is  as  I  state  it.  Such, 
indeed,  is  now  the  rage  for  coaches  in  Madrid,  that 
sorrowful  is  the  dame  of  note  who  does  not  own  one. 
They  appear  to  think,  as  the  good  Navarrcte  and  his 
voucher,  Trogus  Pompeius,  allege,  that  "  not  to  ride 
about  and  be  seen  is  to  confess  themselves  ill-favored." 
A  friend,  who  had  certainly  no  wish  to  slander  his  na- 
tive land,  informed  me,  that  there  were  persons,  to  his 
knowledge,  in  Madrid,  who  reduced  themselves  to  the 
extremity  of  hiring  their  table  and  bed  linen,  in  order 
to  keep  coaches  for  the  evening  ride  upon  the  Prado ! 
Pride  and  poverty,  alas!  are  companions,  it  seems, 
everywhere. 

But  whatever  may  be  said  of  the  vehicles,  I  do  not 


28  SPAIN. 

wonder  that  an  Englishman  should  be  in  peril  of  his 
life  from  laughing  at  the  horsemen.  The  horses,  for 
the  most  part,  though  often  pretty,  are  under-sized,  and 
it  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted  that,  if  they  are  fat 
and  sleek,  there  is  nothing  more  required,  unless  it  can 
be  managed  that  they  be  spotted  or  piebald,  like  the 
charger  of  Mr.  Briggs,  in  Punch,  which  had  been 
taucht  to  take  a  seat  when  he  heard  music.  Their 
natural  paces  are  completely  destroyed  by  vicious  edu- 
cation, and  every  inbbon-tailed  little  fellow  of  them 
will  canter,  in  magnificent  attitudes,  such  as  a  horse 
was  never  made  to  assume,  except  by  the  Spanish 
picadores  — and  the  illustrious  David,  when  he  painted 
Napoleon  on  the  Alps.  Indeed  no  class  of  animals, 
that  I  know  of,  have  greater  reason  than  the  Spanish 
riding-horses  to  feel  under  personal  obligations  to  the 
attraction  of  gravitation.  But  for  that  potent  check, 
there  would  be  no  visible  reason  why,  between  the 
horizontal  impetus  communicated  from  behind  and  the 
perpendicular  motion  they  are  taught  to  give  to  the 
fore  legs,  they  should  not  pass  off,  on  the  diagonal  of 
forces,  to  meet  the  renowned  Clavileno  among  the 
Pleiades. 

As  the  spring  came  on,  and  with  it  more  genial 
weather,  the  Salon  gradually  lost  its  popularity,  and 
the  walk  between  the  Gate  and  Convent  of  Atocha  be- 
came the  rendezvous  of  all  that  was  elegant  and  at- 
tractive in  Madrid,  There  is  nothing  very  remark- 
able in  that  part  of  the  Prado.  On  the  left,  as  you 
face  the  convent,  there  is  a  long,  bold  hill,  which,  though 
surmounted  by  a  pretty  little  astronomical  observatory, 
is  barren  and  repulsive,  like  all  the  hills  along  the 


SPAIN.  29 

Manzanarcs.  On  tlic  riglit  extends  the  city  wall, 
which  is  as  graceless  in  appearance  as  it  would  be  in- 
signiHcant  for  any  serious  purpose  of  defence.  Tiie 
right  was  the  fashionable  side  for  pedestrians.  Under 
the  shadow  of  the  wall  some  little  grass  had  been  able 
to  keep  itself  alive,  and  the  proprietors  of  chairs  had 
taken  advantage  of  the  green  carpet  to  make  the  pub- 
lic comfortable  there  at  a  cuarto  apiece.  After  walk- 
ing till  you  were  tired,  you  would  take  a  seat  for  a 
while.  A  charity  match-bearer,  from  the  poor-house 
of  San  Bernardino,  would  immediately  present  himself, 
with  his  badge  upon  his  hat  to  show  you  his  authority, 
and  his  box  at  his  belt  to  receive  vour  contribution.  It 
is  the  privilege,  perhaps  the  monopoly,  of  the  poor  old 
fellows,  to  light  cigars  upon  the  public  walks,  and  it 
does  not  enter  into  their  imaginations  to  conceive  that 
you  can  sit  down  for  five  minutes  without  needing 
their  services. 

When  you  are  comfortably  arranged,  either  with  or 
without  your  cigarrilo,  you  must  be  hard  to  please,  if 
you  do  not  find  blessed  occupation  for  your  eyes,  as 
long  as  the  daylight  lasts.  In  their  handsome  open 
carriages  —  moving  at  the  slowest,  most  convenient 
pace  for  observation,  or  walking  slowly,  in  bright 
groups,  before  you,  or  sitting  in  groups  just  as  bright 
around  you  —  are  as  many  of  Eve's  fairest  daugliters 
as  in  the  longest  day  of  the  year  you  ever  saw  before, 
or  are  likely  again  to  see.  In  other  parts  of  Spain  the 
women,  beautiful  as  they  may  be,  have  their  peculiar, 
unvaiying,  provincial  type.  In  Madrid,  though  the 
"dark  side  "  of  loveliness  is  that  which  you  most  gen- 
erally see,  there  is  nevertheless,  in  that,  cxti'eme  variety. 


30  SPAIN. 

Bernardin  de  Sajnt  Pierre  gave  up  in  despair  the  de- 
scription of  the  strawberry-plant  in  his  window,  because 
he  found  that  at  least  seven-and-thirty  different  species 
of  gorgeous  butterflies  made  it  their  beautiful  pleasure- 
ground.  The  Prado,  with  the  fair  spirits  which  are  its 
ministers,  must  remain  unchronicled  in  loveliness,  by 
me,  for  reasons  quite  as  plentiful.  I  may  be  permitted 
only  to  say,  by  way  of  qualification,  that  I  do  not  think 
beauty  has  a  much  longer  span  in  Madrid  than  other 
vitalities.  At  a  moderately  middle  age,  there  is  a  sad 
tendency  towards  the  robustious  in  figure,  and  a  young 
maiden  at  all  prudential  should  carefully  keep  her 
mother  in  the  background,  lest  hopeful  swains  might 
be  deterred  from  uttering  obligatory  vows,  by  the  dread 
of  avoirdupois  weight  to  come  ! 


SPAIN.  81 


V. 


Constitutional  History  axd  Erocns.  — Coxstitutioks. 
—  Feudixand  the  Seventh.  —  Due  d'Angoulesie.  — 
Cristina.  —  Don  Carlos.  —  Estatdto  Seal.  —  History 
OF  Parties.  —  Espartero.  —  Narvaez. 

The  Spanish  government  is  called  "  a  constitutional 
monarchy,"  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  is  entitled  to 
the  appellation,  if  the  number  of  organic  laws  that  have 
ruled  it  be  taken  as  evidence.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  ex- 
amining the  original  of  the  first  of  these,  the  constitu- 
tion of  1812,  which  was  reproclaimed  in  1820  and  1836. 
It  is  magnificently  engrossed  and  bound,  and  has  the 
interesting  signatures  of  many  patriotic  and  illustrious 
men,  who  devoted  themselves  durinor  the  strucn-lc  with 
Napoleon,  and  the  gloomy  period  which  followed  it,  to 
the  glorious  work  of  their  country's  political  regeneration. 
It  has  been  the  fashion  of  late  days,  in  some  quarters, 
to  undervalue  the  efforts  of  these  men,  and  to  reproach 
them  with  failures  and  follies  which  were  but  the  una- 
voidable results  of  political  inexperience  and  the  most 
untoward  circumstances.  My  occupations  in  .Aladrid 
made  it  necessary  for  me  often  to  recur  to  the  proceed- 


32  SPAIN. 

ings  of  the  constituent  and  legislative  Cortes  of  1812- 
20,  &c.,  and  it  would  be  unjust  for  me  to  conceal  how 
much  my  admiration  was  excited  by  the  deliberative 
eloquence  and  the  political  philosophy  which  they  dis- 
played. That  in  the  midst  of  revolution,  uncertainty, 
and  novelty,  —  with  prejudices  the  most  inveterate  to 
overcome,  and  ignorance  and  apathy  to  enlighten  and 
stimulate,  —  there  should  have  been  many  things 
evolved  which  were  ephemeral  and  puerile,  can  sure- 
ly be  no  matter  of  surprise.  But  that  in  a  country 
where  political  discussion  of  every  sort  had  been 
unknown  for  centuries,  —  where  free  thought  and  a 
free  press  had  never  existed,  —  where  education  had 
been  imperfect  or  perverted,  and  oratory  had  never 
stepped  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  pulpit  and  a  re- 
stricted forum,  —  there  should  have  sprung  at  a  mo- 
ment's warning,  from  an  oppressed  and  exhausted  peo- 
ple, men  equal  to  the  labors  which  the  Constitutionalist 
leaders  of  those  days  did  unquestionably  perform,  —  is 
a  phenomenon  well  worth  the  notice  of  those  who  be- 
lieve that  "  benighted  "  and  "  barbarous  "  are  the  only 
epithets  to  which  the  Spaniards  are  entitled. 

Side  by  side  with  the  first  constitution,  in  the  archives 
of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  is  its  successor  of  1837, 
even  more  gorgeous  in  vellum,  velvet,  and  chirography. 
It  was  shown  to  me,  with  just  and  manly  pride,  by  a 
distinguished  member  of  the  Progresista  party  who 
had  a  conspicuous  share  in  its  formation,  and  could  not 
avoid  sighing  over  the  departure  of  its  authority.  In. 
the  same  archives  is  the  original  of  the  constitution 
now  in  force,  which  was  promulgated  in  1845.  It  does 
not  appear  to   have  been  considered  as  of  any  great 


SPAIN.  33 

dignity,  if  one  may  judge  from  the  fact  tliat  it  exists 
only  in  printed  form,  and  that  its  garniture  is  by  no 
means  hixurious,  —  a  significant  thing  in  S[)aiii.  It  is 
probal)ly  adorned,  however,  quite  as  well  as  it  is  some- 
times observeil, —  if  it  be  not  treason  to  say  so. 

Every  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  recent  history  of 
the  Peninsula  will  remember  that  the  constitution  of 
1812  was  framed  during  the  absence  of  Ferdinand  the 
Seventh  in  captivity  in  France,  by  the  men  who  had 
been  most  active  and  earnest  in  devoting  themselves 
and  their  fortunes  to  the  maintenance  of  the  national 
independence.  Loyal,  as  well  as  patriotic,  they  had 
taken  no  advantage  of  their  king's  long  absence,  to 
weaken  his  legitimate  authority  or  sap  the  foundation 
of  his  throne.  They  had  done  nothing  without  his  de- 
clared and  apparently  sincere  approbation,  and  when, 
at  last,  he  was  about  to  resume  the  sceptre  of  his  an- 
cestors, it  was  the  pride  of  the  good  and  brave  men 
who  had  preserved  it  for  him,  that  they  had  made  him 
and  his  descendants  secure  in  it,  by  linking  the  dignity 
and  power  of  the  monarch  with  the  freedom  and  hap- 
piness of  the  people.  The  defects  of  the  constitution 
were  probably  many.  It  was  not  easy  to  ingraft  a 
representative  system  —  in  the  sense  in  which  such 
systems  are  now  understood  —  upon  the  habits  and 
traditions  of  the  most  eminently  monarchical  country 
of  Europe.  But  the  Constitutionalists  of  1812  —  be 
their  errors  what  they  may  —  kept  constantly  before 
them  the  one  great  principle  of  making  the  throne 
subordinate  to  the  law.  The  Cortes  were  intrusted,  to 
all  intents  and  purposes,  with  the  government  of  the 
realm,  in  subjection  to  the  constitution.     The  personal 

3 


34  SPAIN. 

inviolability  of  the  monarch  was  neutralized,  so  far  as 
was  proper,  by  the  dh'ect  responsibility  of  his  ministers, 
and  there  were  guards  and  checks  which  secured  the 
rights  of  all  classes  from  the  encroachments  of  prerog- 
ative and  power. 

During  the  short  period  of  their  sway,  the  Cortes 
reformed  many  abuses,  and  established  much  that  was 
wise,  liberal,  and  of  hopeful  promise.  The  first  act, 
however,  of  the  restored  king  was  to  avail  himself  of 
the  enthusiasm  produced  by  his  return  to  overthrow 
the  constitution,  forswear  the  oath  he  had  voluntarily 
taken  to  support  it,  and  repudiate  and  denounce  what- 
ever had  been  done  in  its  name.  To  the  faithful  ser- 
vants who  had  devoted  themselves,  through  blood  and 
fire,  to  their  country  and  to  him,  but  had  been  guilty  of 
the  sin  of  constitutionalism,  dungeons  and  chains  were 
the  mildest  testimonials  of  his  gratitude.  All  that  was 
wise  and  eloquent,  and  liberal  and  good,  in  the  land, 
was  sent  into  exile,  poverty,  and  sorrow.  Despotism 
became  more  despotic  than  ever,  for  it  was  the  despot- 
ism of  a  treacherous  and  unprincipled  reaction.  In 
1820  the  constitutional  system  was  revived,  and  there 
was  a  brief,  brave  struggle  to  maintain  it ;  but  the 
suffering;  saint  of  San  Ildefonso  called  aloud  to  his  once 
suffering  brother  of  St.  Cloud,  who  hearkened  mercifully 
to  his  voice.  In  the  face  of  all  the  world,  and  espe- 
cially of  constitutional  England,  —  by  whose  teachings 
the  patriots  had  been  led,  and  on  whose  succor  they  re- 
lied in  vain,  —  the  Due  d'Angouldme,  in  1823,  marched 
from  the  Bidasoa  to  Cadiz,  trampling  down  every  ves- 
tige and  hope  of  rational  freedom.  Unhappily  for  Spain, 
those  were  the  days,  in  Europe,  of  sovereign  congresses 


SPAIN.  35 

and  Holy  Alliances,  and  the  United  States  had  not  as 
yet  been  enlightened  on  the  subject  of  intervention  by 
any  Hungarian  revelations  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 
Washingtonian  policy.  Riego  was  hanged  without  let  or 
hindrance  of  Turk  or  Christian,  and  Quiroga,  escaping 
as  best  he  might,  had  not  a  single  speech  made  to 
him  by  a  major-general  or  other  functionary,  legislative, 
judicial,  or  executive. 

From  that  period  down  to  the  death  of  Ferdinand, 
in  1833,  the  picture  is  all  shadow.  It  is  hard  to  say 
whether  folly  or  iniquity  was  the  predominant  charac- 
teristic of  that  veiy  wicked  and  foolish  man.  His  only 
objects  in  life  were  power,  vengeance,  and  the  gratifi- 
cation of  his  appetites.  His  policy  had  but  two  depart- 
ments, —  force  and  fraud.  His  only  address  was 
falsehood,  and  when  it  was  not  necessaiy  to  him  as  an 
instrument,  he  sported  with  it  as  an  accomplishment,  or 
revelled  in  it  as  a  luxuiy.  He  hated  constitutions,  be- 
cause they  trammelled  him.  He  hated  reform,  even 
when  it  did  him  no  harm,  because  the  Constitutionalists 
were  reformers,  and  had  befriended  him,  and  he  hated 
them.  Having  no  idea  of  government  except  as  the 
exercise  of  his  own  will,  he  found  the  ancient  traditions 
and  institutions  of  the  kingdom  as  objectionable  as  the 
new  lights,  and  he  loved  them  all  the  less  because  he 
understood  none  of  them.  Religion  —  though  he  pro- 
fessed it  sturdily,  went  through  its  forms  ostentatiously, 
and  clung  to  it  like  a  bad  coward  when  death  terrified 
him  —  he  practically  valued  only  as  a  lever  of  gov- 
ernment. Education  and  literature  he  discouraged, 
because  he  knew  nothing  about  them,  and  had  an  in- 
definite idea  that  they  were  not  to  be  trusted.     Men  of 


36  SPAIN. 

learning  and  talent  he  drove  as  far  away  from  him  as 
possible,  "  being  as  much  afraid  of  them,"  to  use  a 
phrase  of  Lord  Chesterfield's,  "  as  a  woman  is  of  a  gun, 
which,  she  thinks,  may  go  off  of  itself,  and  do  her  a 
mischief."  He  had,  in  fine,  no  sympathy  with  the  feel- 
ings of  his  people,  because  he  had  no  heart,  and  none 
with  their  intellectual  yearnings,  because  he  had  no 
head.  The  only  good  thing  he  ever  did  was  to  die  ; 
and  he  did  that  as  slowly  and  as  unsatisfactorily  as 
possible,  having  never  learned,  in  all  his  vicissitudes,  to 
submit  with  grace  to  necessity,  and  being  opposed,  on 
principle,  to  gratifying  his  subjects,  as  long  as  he  could 
in  any  way  avoid  it.  As  a  rebel  poet  said  of  his  grand- 
sire,  Charles  the  Third,  —  a  far  better  and  wiser  man, — 

"  Murio  de  mandar  harto,"  — 

he  died  of  a  surfeit  of  power.  We  may  pardon  power 
many  of  its  enormities,  for  having  ultimately  become 
his  executioner. 

Upon  the  death  of  Ferdinand,  his  widow  Cristina, 
the  Regent,  would  have  willingly  adhered  to  the  simple 
despotism  which  he  had  taken  so  much  trouble  to  es- 
tablish ;  but  Don  Carlos,  the  brother  of  the  late  king, 
declared  himself  at  once  the  legitimate  heir  to  the 
crown,  and  the  Regent  was  compelled  to  make  friends, 
as  well  as  she  could,  for  her  infant  daughter,  who  had 
been  proclaimed  Queen  under  the  title  of  Isabella  the 
Second.  Don  Carlos,  being  a  narrow-minded  bigot, 
whose  chronology  of  ideas  came  down  no  lower  than 
the  fifteenth  century,  rallied  around  him,  of  course,  the 
most  influential  politicians  of  the  stationary  and  retro- 
grade schools.     There  was  no  alternative,  therefore, 


SPAIN,  37 

left  to  Cristina,  but  to  throw  lierself  and  her  daiigliter's 
cause  into  the  arms  of  the  liberal  party.  It  was  an 
alliance  of  interest,  not  of  love,  so  far  as  the  Queen 
Regent  was  concerned,  and  the  smiles  of  Heaven  were 
never  upon  it.  The  first  pledge  of  it  which  appeared 
was  the  Estatuto  Recti,  or  Royal  Statute,  a  poor  apol- 
ogy for  a  liberal  system,  establishing  the  semblance  of 
popular  representation,  but  in  reality  only  adding  that 
attractive  and  ostensible  machinery  to  the  usual  conven- 
iences of  absolute  rule.  It  created  a  Chamber  of  Pro- 
ceres,  or  Peers,  who  of  course  were  to  be  the  creatures 
of  the  government,  and  placed  the  election  of  the  pop- 
ular branch  substantially  under  the  same  control.  Such 
a  contrivance  could  not  please  or  last.  The  liberal 
party  had  devoted  themselves  with  undeviating  faith  to 
the  throne  of  Isabella  ;  but  they  were  too  wise  not  to 
know  the  folly  of  relying  upon  royal  generosity  or  jus- 
tice. They  had  just  come  home  from  the  banishment 
into  which  kingly  treachery  had  sent  them,  and  they 
were  aware  that  Cristina  was  of  the  house  of  Naples. 
The  Estatuto  Real,  therefore,  could  not  satisfy  them. 
The  Regent,  being  a  Bourbon,  was  of  course  fated  to 
be  deaf  to  reason  and  experience,  and  the  result  was, 
that  in  1836  she  found  herself  compelled,  amid  the 
bayonets  of  a  rebellious  soldiery  at  La  Granja,  to  sign 
a  decree  for  the  promulgation,  once  again,  of  the  con- 
stitution of  1812-20.  This  was  but  a  prelude  to  the 
meeting  of  a  constituent  Cortes,  —  or,  as  we  should 
call  it,  a  constitutional  convention,  —  whose  labors  were 
crowned,  in  June,  1837,  by  the  adoption  of  yet  another 
fundamental  law. 

When  the  constitutional  system  was  overthrown,  in 


38  SPAIN. 

1823,  the  liberal  party  had  been  long  enough  in  power 
to  be  broken  into  factions.     Many  of  its  divisions  had 
a  merely  personal  foundation,  but  the  absorbing  ques- 
tion was  one  of  principle.     It  was  the  same  which  di- 
vides all   popular   parties,  —  the  question  as  to  where 
progress  should    end,  and  conservatism  begin.      Ten 
years  of  sorrow  and  persecution  seemed  but  to  have 
confirmed  the   advov?ates  of  each   set   of  doctrines   in 
their  original  convictions,  and  when  the  necessities  of 
the  Queen  Regent  recalled  them  all  to  the  responsibili- 
ties of  government,  it  was  but  a  signal  for  the  revival 
of  old  discords.     The  conservative  liberals  had  become 
more  than  ever  satisfied,  that  they  could  only  escape 
the  dangers  of  the  past  by  centralizing  the  administra- 
tion, strengthening  constitutionally  the  hands  of  the  ex- 
ecutive, and  appealing  to  loyal  and  conservative  tradi- 
tions.    The  men  of  progress,  on  the  other  hand,  were 
quite  as  thoroughly  convinced,  that  too  many  conces- 
sions had  been  already  made  to  the  monarchical  idea, 
and  they  believed  that  they  could  see  in  those  conces- 
sions the  true  secret  of  the  downfall  of  former  free 
institutions.     The  Regent,  being  a  queen,  of  course 
followed  but  her  instinct,  in  assuming  that  conservative 
liberalism  was  a  lesser  evil  than  the   same   iniquity, 
rampant  with  the  spirit  of  change.     She  therefore,  with- 
out hesitation,   united  her   fortunes   with   those  of  the 
Moderados,  between  whom  and  the  Progresistas  the 
breach  was  of  course  made  wider  daily,  by  personal 
struggles  for  power. 

Party  names,  like  all  other  words  which  typify  prac- 
tical opinions,  mean  much  or  little,  according  to  the 
latitude.     Most  things,  indeed,  owe  a  great  deal  of  their 


SPAIN.  39 

signification  to  the  eyes  with  wliich  \vc  look  at  tliem, 
and  the  light  in  which  we  see  them.  A  Progrrsista, 
who  would  be  deenned  quite  a  rabid  and  dangerous  rad- 
ical in  Spain,  would  be  but  a  pale  and  twinkling  light 
beside  even  the  most  subdued  exhibition  of  those  dem- 
ocratical  pyrotechnics,  which,  here  in  America,  we 
have  grown  to  consider  quite  harmless  at  their  brightest. 
An  unenterprising  Moderado,  on  the  other  hand,  whom 
our  Kossuthian  disciples  might  consider  altogether  unre- 
publican,  and  bad  enough  to  be  under  "  Austrian  influ- 
ence," would  perhaps  be  taken  for  quite  a  revolutionist 
in  Spain,  when  placed  in  contrast  with  those  orthodox 
Realistas  who  adhered  to  Don  Carlos  and  the  jus  di- 
vinum,  and  would  have  gloried  in  reestablishing  for 
church  and  state  the  maxims  and  practices  of  Philip 
the  Second  and  Antonio  Perez,  without  a  spark  of  the 
intellect  and  energy  which  gave  dignity  and  respecta- 
bility to  that  grand,  though  gloomy  despotism.  The  two 
fractions  of  the  liberal  party,  therefore,  were  not  as 
far  apart  as  they  might  seem,  and  although,  by  dwell- 
ing upon  their  peculiar  points  of  difference, — each  to 
defend  and  fortify  its  own,  —  each  grew  more  absolute 
and  more  exclusive,  —  the  Moderado  more  moderate, 
and  the  Progresista  more  progressive,  —  they  were 
near  enough  together  still,  in  1837,  to  find  some  terms 
of  compromise.  The  Progresistas  had  the  Cortes  of 
that  year  entirely  at  their  command,  but,  to  the  lasting 
credit  of  their  intelligence  and  patriotism,  they  mag- 
nanimously made  concessions  to  the  vanquished,  even 
in  the  flush  of  victory. 

The  constitution  of  1812,  instead  of  being  merely 
an  organic  law,  had  more  the  appearance  of  a  code  or 


40  SPAIN. 

an  elementary  treatise,  in  the  multitude  and  particu- 
larity of  its  details.  This  violation  of  the  unity  and 
brevity  so  essential  in  such  instruments  arose  in  a 
great  degree  from  the  pressure  of  peculiar  circum- 
stances. The  Cortes  of  1837  corrected  this  error, 
and,  by  giving  to  the  executive  the  power  of  convoking 
and  dissolving  the  Cortes,  under  proper  limitations,  as 
well  as  a  substantial  participation  in  the  making  of  the 
laws,  removed  some  of  the  most  serious  objections 
which  the  advocates  of  prerogative  had  upheld  against 
the  former  system.  The  legislature  itself,  which  had 
consisted  of  a  single  body  under  the  constitution  of 
1812,  was  separated  into  two.  Of  the  wisdom  of  such 
a  change,  few,  it  is  supposed,  could  now  be  found  to 
doubt.  The  experience  of  the  French  Republic  has 
made  conspicuous  what  the  experience  of  the  Cor- 
tes had  demonstrated  long  before  in  Spain,  —  that  a 
single  chamber,  having  no  battles  to  fight  with  one  of 
its  own  kind,  is  always  ready,  at  a  moment's  warning, 
either  to  serve  under  the  banner  of  the  executive  or  to 
usurp  its  powers.  It  is  invariably  either  subservient  or 
contumacious.  An  executive  or  a  legislative  tyranny 
is  thus  its  inevitable  result,  unless  peculiar  circum- 
stances so  equalize  the  strength  of  the  contending  de- 
partments, that  they  neutralize  each  other,  and  render 
all  government  impossible.  At  the  same  time  that  the 
Cortes  of  1837  applied  the  remedy  to  this  evil,  and 
added  one  more  enlightened  conservative  element  to 
their  system,  they  developed  the  peculiar  principles  of 
the  Progresista  majority  in  a  more  liberal  and  simple 
electoral  machinery,  an  increase  in  the  number  of  rep- 
resentatives, and  a  series  of  other  important  popular 


SPAIN. 


41 


guaranties.  The  new  constitution  was  thus  made  ac- 
ceptable to  both  parties,  and  there  seemed  to  be  in  pros- 
pect, for  a  while,  one  of  those  political  millenniums, 
which  are  so  often  prophesied,  but  never  happen,  even 
in  communities  where  political  augury  ought  to  be  a 
more  demonstrative  science  than  in  Spain. 

The  famous  convenio,  or  settlement,  made  at  Ver- 
gara,  in  August,  1839,  between  Espartero  and  the  Car- 
list  general  iMaroto,  virtually  put  an  end  to  the  bloody 
and  protracted  civil  war,  and  the  pretensions  of  Don 
Carlos.  The  defeat  and  emigration  of  Cabrera,  his 
ablest  general,  in  the  following  year,  left  nothing  fur- 
ther even  for  his  hopes.  The  victorious  leader  of  the 
national  armies,  Espartero,  of  course  became  —  as 
from  his  many  high  qualities  and  eminent  services  he 
certainly  deserved  to  be  —  a  person  of  much  weight 
in  public  affairs.  Being  at  the  head  of  the  Progre- 
sistas,  he  naturally  availed  himself  of  his  influence  to 
elevate  and  strengthen  the  position  of  his  party,  which 
at  that  moment  was  much  depressed.  A  Moderado 
majority  in  the  Cortes  had  just  adopted  a  law  adverse 
to  the  system  of  ayunfamienfos,  or  municipal  corpo- 
rations, which  the  liberal  party  had  always  vigorously 
upheld,  as  the  chief  protection  of  provincial  and  popu- 
lar rights  against  the  absorbing  centralization  to  which 
the  Moderado  doctrines  tended.  To  procure  from  the 
Queen  Regent  a  veto  upon  the  obnoxious  measure,  and 
a  dissolution  of  the  Cortes  which  had  passed  it,  was  the 
object  of  Espartero's  solicitude.  Cristina  refused  to 
yield,  and  the  result  was  a  popular  outbreak,  which  was 
followed,  in  the  autumn  of  1H40,  by  her  renunciation 
of  the  regency  and  immediate  departure  for  France. 


42 


SPAIN. 


Espartero  succeeded  her,  as  was  to  have  been  expected. 
Agustin  Arguelles,  the  distinguished  author  of  the  pre- 
liminary discourse  to  the  constitution  of  1812,  and  an 
orator  so  graceful  and  impressive  that  he  had  the 
surname  of  "  the  divine,"  was  appointed  "  tutor  "  to 
the  royal  children.  The  Progresistas  then,  for  a 
little  while,  had  every  thing  in  their  own  hands. 

In  Calderon's  beautiful  drama  of  the  Cisma  de 
Inglaterra,  the  melancholy  Catherine  of  Aragon, 
in  the  depth  of  her  desertion  and  disgrace,  calls  on 
her  maidens  for  a  song,  wherein  she  asks  the  very 
flowers  to  learn  from  her  how  all  things  fleet  and 
fade :  — 

"  Aprended,  flores,  de  mi, 
Lo  que  va  de  ayer  a  hoy : 
Que  ayer  maravilla  fui, 
Y  hoy,  sorabra  mia  no  soy ! " 

The  chances  and  changes  of  Spanish  politics  might 
give  quite  as  serious  instruction  to  the  leaves  and  grass, 
as  the  vicissitudes  of  Henry's  victim.  In  the  summer 
of  1843,  Espartero,  Duke  of  Victory,  Regent  and 
Saviour  of  the  Realm,  found  himself  a  fugitive  on  board 
an  English  steamer  in  the  Bay  of  Cadiz,  stripped  of 
his  titles,  and  stigmatized  in  a  ministerial  decree  as 
"  bearing  the  mark  of  public  execration  "  !  With  Es- 
partero fell  the  friends  who  had  clung  to  him,  and  the 
doctrines  they  had  espoused.  In  the  face  of  the  consti- 
tution,—  which  expressly  provided  that  fourteen  years 
should  be  the  term  of  the  royal  minority,  —  the  Queen, 
a  child  not  quite  thirteen,  was  declared  to  be  of  full 
age,  and  invested  with  the  symbols  of  dominion.  Then 
commenced    the   predominant   influence   of  Narvaez, 


SPAIN.  43 

Duke  of  Valencia,  who  from  that  time  to  the  period 
of  my  visit  had,  with  occasional  interruptions,  been 
the  ruling  spirit  of  the  Peninsula.  Much,  of  both  good 
and  evil,  has  been  said  of  this  remarkable  man,  to 
whose  position  and  character  I  shall  have  occasion 
hereafter  to  allude.  Those  who  praise  him  may  per- 
haps do  him  more  than  justice,  —  those  who  denounce 
him,  less ;  but  it  were  folly  to  deny  that  he  has  per- 
manendy  and  honorably  linked  his  name  with  the  re- 
pression of  civil  discord  and  the  revival  of  his  coun- 
try's prosperity  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

It  was  under  the  auspices  of  Narvaez  and  the  Mode- 
rado  party,  that  the  constitution  of  1845  was  adopted, 
which,  down  to  the  last  steamer's  dates  from  Madrid, 
continued  to  be  preached  from  as  the  fundamental  text. 
It  is  not  likely  to  be  soon  changed,  for  all  parties  seem 
to  have  adopted  the  idea,  made  illustrious  among 
ourselves  not  long  ago,  of  administering  constitutions 
"  as  they  understand  them."  In  such  case,  one  form 
answers  about  as  well  as  another. 


44 


SPAIN. 


VI. 


CONSTITUTIOK  OF  1845.  — ItS  PROVISIONS   AND    CHARACTER. 

—  The  Cortes. —  Elections.  —  Pat  of  Members. — 
Executive  Influence.  —  Its  Benefits. —  Eepublican 
Pkopagandism. 

The  fanciful  theorist  who  thought  the  concoction  of 
popular  songs  a  far  more  important  source  of  power 
than  the  making  of  laws,  might,  if  he  had  lived  in 
these  days,  have  applied  his  remark  a  fortiori  to  con- 
stitutions. The  Marseillaise  has  been  generally  found 
equal  to  the  overthrow  of  any  organic  establishment 
against  which  it  has  been  pitted,  and  I  greatly  doubt 
whether,  if  a  popular  question  were  made  between 
Yankee-Doodle  and  the  best  of  our  State  constitutions, 
there  would  not  be  large  odds,  and  perhaps  a  con- 
vention, in  favor  of  the  ditty.  The  truth  is,  that,  where 
there  is  any  decided  and  predominant  governing  ele- 
ment in  a  nation,  experience  shows  that  paper  regula- 
tions are  far  more  apt  to  subserve  than  to  thwart  it.  It 
is  easy,  at  the  worst,  for  those  who  make  to  unmake 
if  they  please,  but  the  science  of  interpretation  has  of 
late  been  carried  to  such  a  pitch  of  perfection,  as  al- 


i 


SPAIN.  45 

most  entirely  to  supersede  the  older  and  clumsier  meth- 
ods of  change.  We  certainly  are  not  without  our  own 
examples  of  new  constitutional  readings,  made  onlio- 
dox  at  once  by  the  very  popularity  of  the  novelty  or 
the  expounder,  and  we  cannot  fairly  express  any  sur- 
prise that  the  few  who  have  the  power  elsewhere 
should  wield  it,  in  their  own  way,  like  the  many  who 
possess  it  here.  The  knowledge  of  this  mutability  in 
fundamental  laws,  and  of  the  trifling  resistance  which 
they  practically  make  to  real  power,  has  destroyed  a 
great  deal  of  that  sacredness  with  which  people  used  to 
invest  such  things,  when  society  and  politics  were  in  a 
more  reverent  and  pastoral  state.  It  is  not  worth  while 
to  inquire  whether  such  a  falling  ofl'  in  respect  for 
what  ought  to  be  most  respectable  is  not  a  sad  and 
serious  evil.  It  is  a  fact,  let  it  be  what  else  it  may. 
Men  may  differ  a  little  as  to  the  sort  and  number  of 
masters  they  would  prefer,  if  they  could  have  their 
choice  ;and  n)st  m  en  prefer  being  among  the  masters 
themselves  ;  but  it  is  now  pretty  generally  understood, 
that  those  who  have  the  mastery  will  use  it,  be  they 
few  or  many,  and  that  paper  obstructions  are  not  likely 
to  prevent  them. 

The  Spanish  constitution  of  1845  does  not  surround 
the  exercise  of  absolute  dominion  by  the  powers  that 
be  with  any  insurmountable  barriers.  It  is  very  full, 
no  doubt,  of  patriotic  and  liberal  generalities,  and  many 
of  its  theories  and  guaranties  are  ostensibly  as  popular 
as  need  be.  Yet  while  almost  every  right  is  seem- 
ingly secured  to  the  citizen,  there  is  attached  to  each 
of  the  provisions  on  which  that  security  depends  a 
significant  clause,  which  has   the   real  effect   of  set- 


46  SPAIN. 

ting  the  whole  matter,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  at 
sea.  Thus,  for  example,  by  "  Art.  2.  All  Spaniards 
may  print  and  publish  their  ideas  freely,  without  pre- 
vious censorship,  hut  with  subjection  to  the  Jaws.'''' 
By  "  Art.  3.  Every  Spaniard  has  the  right  to  direct 
written  petitions  to  the  Cortes  and  the  king,  as  the  laws 
may  direct.''''  By  "  Art.  7.  No  Spaniard  shall  be  de- 
tained or  imprisoned,  or  kept  from  his  domicile,  nor 
shall  his  house  be  forced,  except  in  those  cases  and  in 
that  manner  which  the  laws  may  prescribe.''''  And  by 
"  Art.  8.  If  the  security  of  the  state  should  require,  un- 
der extraordinary  circumstances,  the  temporary  suspen- 
sion, in  the  whole  or  in  any  part  of  the  kingdom,  of  the 
provisions  of  the  preceding  article,  it  shall  he  so  deter- 
mined hy  law.'''' 

It  will  be  very  obvious  that  the  protection  which  the 
citizen  is  to  derive  from  these  and  similar  provisions 
must  depend  altogether  upon  the  constitution  and  tem- 
per of  the  law-making  department.  If,  by  the  funda- 
mental law,  the  legislature  can,  without  hindrance,  be 
made  what  the  people  will,  then  the  constitution  secures, 
or  may  be  made  to  secure,  the  popular  immunities,  and 
the  nation  will  be  well  or  ill  governed  according  to  the 
popular  capacity  and  disposition  to  govern.  If  the 
throne,  on  the  contrary,  can  make  or  manage  the  law- 
givers, then  there  is  nothing  but  a  circumlocution  and  a 
slight  complication  of  machinery  in  the  way  of  its  be- 
ing, to  a  degree,  absolute.  This  last  seems  to  be 
frequently  the  practical  working  of  the  Spanish  sys- 
tem at  present. 

The  Cortes  are  composed  of  two  chambers,  the  Sen- 
ate and  the  Congress  of  Deputies.     The  Senators  hold 


SPAIN.  47 

ofRcc  for  life,  and  —  with  the  exception  of  the  sons  of 
the  reigning  monarch  and  of  the  immediate  heir  to  the 
throne,  who  are  members  of  the  Senate,  as  of  course,  on 
attaining  the  age  of  twenty-five,  —  they  derive  their  ap- 
pointments exclusively  from  the  crown.  Their  number 
is  unlimited,  so  that  a  ministry  can  always  create  a  ma- 
jority at  need.  To  secure  their  conservatism,  they  are 
required  to  have  a  considerable  fixed  income,  or  to  pay 
a  specified  amount  of  taxes.  That  their  sympathies 
may  be  upon  the  side  of  power,  they  can  only,  now,  be 
chosen  from  among  the  nobility,  the  higher  clergy,  and 
such  individuals  as  may  have  filled  certain  distinguished 
positions  in  the  public  seiTice.  Lest,  however,  it  should 
be  important  for  the  government,  hereafter,  in  an  exi- 
gency, to  go  beyond  the  enumerated  classes  in  search 
of  friends,  it  is  provided  that  the  sphere  of  selection 
may  at  any  time  be  enlarged  by  law.  So  far,  then, 
as  the  control  of  affairs  by  legislation  is  concerned,  it 
must  be  a  rare  ministry  which  cannot,  with  such  facil- 
ities, protect  itself  against  the  happening  of  any  thing 
inconvenient  or  disagreeable.  But  the  functions  of  the 
senators  go  farther.  The  creatures  of  the  throne,  they 
are  yet  the  constitutional  judges  of  all  alleged  offences 
against  the  state  and  the  person  or  dignity  of  the  mon- 
arch. Dependent  upon  the  ministry  for  the  very  di"-- 
nities  which  make  them  eligible,  or  for  the  senatorial 
dignity  itself,  they  have  yet  e.xclusive  jurisdiction  over 
impeachments  of  ministers.  It  must  be  no  small  relief 
to  a  statesman,  in  his  sense  of  official  responsibility,  to 
know  that  he  has  a  check  on  the  laws  which  are  to  cov- 
em  him,  and  can  legitimately  pack  the  tribunal  which 
alone  can  try  him  ! 


48  SPAIN.     . 

The  Congress  of  Deputies  is,  to  all  appearance,  a 
mere  popular  body,  though  not  always  so  in  fact,  as 
the  system  works.     Its  members   are  chosen  for   five 
years  and  are  indefinitely  reeligible.     They  need  not 
reside  in  their  respective  districts,  and  may,  therefore, 
be  lawfully  selected,  as  they  often  are,  from  among  the 
hack  politicians  and  the  courtiers  who  trade  in  place, 
at  Madrid.     They  must  be  laymen,  above  the  age  of 
twenty-five,  and  chosen  in  the  proportion  of  at  least  one 
to  every  fifty  thousand  souls.     The  mode  of  election, 
and  the  pecuniary  and  other  qualifications  required,  are 
prescribed,  under  the  constitution,  by  the  electoral  laws 
of  1846  and  1849,  —  chiefly  by  that  of  1846.     A  rep- 
resentative, under  those  laws,  is  given  to  every  district 
containing  thirty-five  thousand  inhabitants.     The  colo- 
nies, however,  have  no  share  in  this  distribution,  having 
lost,    since    1837,  the    right   of  representation    in    the 
Cortes,  which  they  enjoyed    under  the  constitution  of 
1812-20.     They  are  now  governed  by  special  enact- 
ments, which,  be  they  as  wise  as  they  may,  can  never 
be  welcome,  altogether,  to  a  people  who  have  no  voice 
in  their  making, 

A  Deputy  is  required  to  have  an  annual  income  of  at 
least  six  hundred  dollars  from  real  property,  or  to  pay 
fifty  dollars  yearly  in  direct  taxes.  Captains-general, 
and  certain  other  specified  functionaries,  are  declared  to 
be  ineligible,  unless  their  official  duties  should  require 
their  presence  in  Madrid  ;  so  that,  if  any  obnoxious  ofla- 
cer  of  the  kind  should  be  chosen,  the  government  has 
but  to  render  his  duties  engrossing,  somewhere  else, 
and  there  is  an  end  of  his  legislative  pretensions.  As 
many  of  the  most  able  and  influential  men  are  likely  to 


SPAIN.  49 

hold  the  ofTices  einimeratcfl,  this  provision  is  an  impor- 
tant sprin;^  in  the  ministerial  man-trap. 

To  vote  for  deputies,  the  elector  must  be  at  least 
twenty-five  years  old,  ami  pay,  at  the  lowest,  twenty 
dollars  of  direct  taxes  annually.  Lawyers,  physicians, 
academicians,  parish  priests,  and  persons  of  similar 
category,  are  allowed  the  right  of  suffrage  upon  paying 
half  that  amount.  The  extent  to  which  even  this  mod- 
erate qualification  sometimes  diminishes  the  number  of 
electors  may  be  inferred  from  an  article  of  the  law, 
which  provides  for  those  districts  in  which  they  may  be 
fewer  than  one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  Jefes  Politicos 
(political  chiefs  of  the  provinces,  who  have  since  been 
superseded  by  provincial  governors)  are  required  to 
make  out  the  electoral  lists  once  in  two  years.  From 
any  error  of  omission  or  commission  upon  their  part,  an 
appeal  is  provided  to  the  Audiencia,  or  court  of  supe- 
rior jurisdiction  for  the  province.  As,  however,  the 
Jefes  Politicos  were,  as  their  successors,  the  governors, 
continue  to  be,  subject  to  removal  at  discretion,  and  as 
judicial  officers  of  all  kinds  may,  under  the  constitution, 
be  suspended  at  any  time  for  trial,  by  a  simple  royal 
order,  it  needs  no  sorceiy  to  divine  the  probable  com- 
plexion of  the  electoral  lists,  whenever  the  government 
chooses  to  take  sides.  So  well,  indeed,  is  the  matter  un- 
derstood, that,  in  most  of  the  special  elections,  the  suc- 
cessful candidate  can  always  be  named  at  Madrid  be- 
fore the  votes  have  been  counted.  Some  idea  may  be 
formed  of  the  thorough  manner  in  which  the  thino-  can 
be  done,  even  in  a  general  canvass,  from  the  fact  that, 
in  the  election  which  first  took  place  after  my  return, 
4 


50  SPAIN. 

two  hundred  and  thirty  ministerial  deputies  were  cho- 
sen, to  fourteen  Progresistas  ! 

The  coohiess  with  which  such  results  are  canvassed, 
hy  men  of  both  parties,  is  quite  amusing.  If  I  had 
found  the  influence  of  government  only  complained  of 
by  the  unsuccessful  side  and  denied  by  the  victors,  I 
should  have  supposed  that  what  I  heard  was  to  be  taken 
with  the  usual  and  proper  allowance  for  partisan  facts. 
Nobody,  however,  thinks  of  disputing  the  matter  or 
expressing  surprise  at  it.  I  was  talking  one  day  to  a 
friend,  in  regard  to  a  prominent  member  of  the  opposi- 
tion, a  man  of  distinguished  abilities,  who  had  favored 
me  with  some  degree  of  intimacy  and  in  whose  success 
as  a  candidate  for  the  next  Cortes  I  felt  much  inter- 
est. He  was  about  to  offer  himself  for  his  native  dis- 
trict in  Andalusia.  "  I  am  very  sorry,"  said  the  gentle- 
man whom  I  addressed,  "  very  sorry,  indeed.  My 
brother-in-law  is  Jefe  Politico  there,  and  will  have 
to  defeat  your  friend  or  lose  his  place  ! "  Upon 
another  occasion,  a  senator,  deep  in  the  secrets  of 
the  ruling  powers,  was  discussing  the  practical  opera- 
tion of  the  constitution  with  me.  "  Es  tin  emhuste^'' 
said  he,  "  y  un  embuste  muy  caro,  el  sistema  represen- 
tativo  !  —  The  representative  system  is  a  humbug,  and 
a  very  dear  one !  It  costs  the  government,  and  of 
course  the  country,  enormously,  to  get  the  right  sort  of 
people  elected,  and  when  they  are  in,  it  costs  a  great 
deal  more  to  keep  them  from  doing  mischief.  Every 
man  of  them  must  have  something  for  himself,  his  chil- 
dren, or  his  friends,  and  unless  he  can  get  what  he 
wants,  he  takes  advantage  of  a  critical  opportunity  and 
goes  over  to  the  opposition  !  "     A  striking  evidence  that 


SPAIN.  51 

my  companion  made  no  mistake  in  this,  is  furnished 
by  a  test  vote  whicli  took  place  on  the  3d  of  January, 
1850,  upon  a  proposition  which  the  government  exerted 
itself  to  defeat.  Of  one  hundred  and  thirty  deputies 
who  maintained  the  ministerial  side  of  the  question, 
the  Clamor  Publico,  one  of  tlie  Progresisla  organs, 
enumerated,  by  name  and  station,  one  hundred  and 
eighteen  who  had  places,  and  five  who  were  believed 
to  have  them  !  There  was,  no  doubt,  some  little  of  par- 
tisan exaggeration  in  the  statement,  but  the  ministerial 
papers  did  not  succeed  in  correcting  it  very  materially. 
The  Clamor  promised  to  prepare  a  subsequent  table  of 
the  salaries  which  the  gentlemen  of  the  majority  were 
enjoying.  It  would  have  been  very  edifying,  no  doubt, 
but  I  do  not  remember  that  it  appeared.  It  was  in  view 
of  such  things  and  their  results  that  Gonzalez  Bravo,  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Moderado  section  of  the  oppo- 
sition, expressed  himself  thus,  one  day,  in  debate  :  — 

"  I  can  understand  the  system  of  force,  which  closes 
the  door  against  discussion,  —  the  absolute  system  which 
is  represented  by  Russia.  I  can  comprehend  that  sys- 
tem, on  the  other  hand,  which  lives  with  and  applies  the 
spirit  of  the  age,  —  which  deals  out  prudent  conces- 
sions, and  does  justice  to  the  national  necessities,  —  the 
system,  in  fine,  of  England.  But  what  I  cannot  under- 
stand, and  what  signifies  nothing,  to  be  understood,  is 
the  bastard  system,  which  is  neither  the  one  thing  nor 
the  other,  —  which  is  not  constitutional,  because  it  does 
not  rest  upon  an  honest  administration  of  constitutional 
principles,  and  is  not  absolute,  because  it  lacks  the  dig- 
nity and  power  of  monarchical  traditions  !  " 

Seiior  Bravo  is  an  able  man,  no  doubt,  but  it  was 


52  SPAIN. 

hardly  reasonable  for  him  to  complain  that  the  govern- 
ment of  her  Majesty  was  not  absolute  enough  to  be 
comprehended  as  such.  The  Duke  of  Valencia  and 
his  colleagues  certainly  did  all  that  lay  in  their  pow- 
er to  prevent  themselves  from  being  justly  liable  to 
animadversion  on  that  score.  Indeed,  the  Duke  did 
not  scruple  to  take  the  orator  to  task,  upon  that  very 
occasion,  for  the  tone  of  his  remarks,  in  a  style  which 
I  will  not  say  was  Russian  altogether,  but  which  would 
have  created  some  astonishment  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  would  certainly  have  elicited  some  elegant 
allusions  to  "  here  and  elsewhere  "  in  ehher  branch  of 
our  national  legislature. 

Neither  the  senators  nor  deputies  receive  any  direct 
compensation,  nor  is  the  Spanish  language  so  fortunate 
as  to  possess  any  word  corresponding  to  "  mileage,"  — 
that  pleasant  invention  of  the  American  genius,  whereby 
honorable  gentlemen  are  so  often  enabled  to  illustrate 
the  proverb,  that  "  the  longest  way  round  is  the  shortest 
way  home."  The  Peninsular  legislators  are  supposed, 
in  theory,  to  be  amply  compensated  by  the  honor  of 
the  station,  the  pleasure  of  serving  their  country,  and 
the  felicity  of  making  speeches.  The  real  quid  pro 
qua,  however,  consists  in  the  opportunity  just  alluded  to, 
of  securing  profitable  places  for  themselves  and  their 
friends,  by  the  use  of  a  little  diplomacy  and  the  advan- 
tages of  position.  An  acquaintance  of  mine,  who  had 
been  all  the  winter  in  Madrid,  pretendiendo,  as  they 
call  it,  —  office-hunting,  in  the  homely  American  ver- 
nacular,—  called,  late  in  the  season,  to  take  leave  of 
me.  He  was  a  worthy  person,  and  I  expressed  my 
hope  that  he  had  been  able  to  handle  his  cards  success- 


SPAIN.  53 

fully.  "  Not  at  all,"  he  answered,  "  and  I  am  tired  of 
playing  the  beggar.  I  am  going  home  to  have  myself 
returned,  if  possible,  to  the  next  Curtcs.  If  I  can  suc- 
ceed in  that,  I  think  I  shall  be  able  to  make  my  own 
terms !  " 

It  has  often  been  a  question  whether  the  system  of 
direct  compensation  to  members  of  the  legislature  is  a 
wise  one.  That  it  places  the  honors  of  the  republic 
equally  within  the  reach  of  the  wealthy  and  the  poor, 
is  deemed  with  us  an  unanswerable  arcumcnt  in  its 
favor.  It  is  supposed,  besides,  to  secure  legislative  in- 
dependence. If  a  per  diem  would  in  truth  prevent  the 
members  of  the  Cortes  from  surrendering  themselves  to 
that  subserviency  which  no  place-hunter  can  escape, 
it  would  certainly  be  both  wise  and  economical  to  let 
them  name  their  own  stipend.  Unfortunately,  howev- 
er, it  is  by  no  means  absolutely  certain  that  the  result 
would  be  so  happy.  It  might  be  asserted,  as  a  fact 
quite  susceptible  of  proof  in  our  own  beloved  country, 
that  members  of  Congress  have  been  found,  —  cir- 
cumnavigatory  to  the  last  degree  in  their  demands 
for  mileage,  —  scrupulous,  to  the  extent  of  good  con- 
science, in  the  exaction  of  their  pay,  —  and  yet  feel- 
ing themselves  in  no  way  precluded  thereby  from 
asking  and  taking  every  scrap  of  official  preferment 
to  be  had.  Perhaps  the  best  remedy  for  this  evil 
would  be  to  make  members  of  the  legislature  incapable 
of  filling  any  but  elective  offices,  within  at  least  five 
years  from  the  expiration  of  their  legislative  terms. 
But  even  then  there  would  be  uncles  and  cousins  to  pro- 
vide for,  besides  lineal  descendants  and  influential  con- 
stituents, so  that,  on  the  whole,  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared 


54  SPAIN. 

there  is  but  poor  chance  of  any  sure  reform  in  the  mat- 
ter, until  some  plan  be  devised  for  remodelling  human 
nature. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  from  the  tone  of  this  chap- 
ter, that  I  regard  the  decided  influence  of  the  Spanish 
executive  over  the  legislature  as  by  any  means  an  un- 
mixed evil,  in  the  present  state  of  the  Peninsula.  I 
shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to  consider  that  point, 
in  a  more  general  connection.  There  are,  no  doubt, 
those  by  whom  it  will  be  held  marvellous  that  a  repub- 
lican should  entertain  any  question  whatever  on  the 
subject;  but  I  think  it  the  duty  of  every  candid  man, 
upon  proper  occasion,  to  set  his  face  against  the  folly 
so  prevalent  with  us,  of  striving  to  fit  all  the  world 
with  governments  according  to  our  own  measure.  An 
American,  who  returns  from  European  travel  without 
an  increased  sense  of  the  value  to  us  of  the  institutions 
under  which  we  were  born,  and  a  profounder  feeling 
of  gratitude  to  the  good  Providence  whose  beneficence 
made  them  our  birthright,  must  be  as  mad  as  the  most 
"  undevout  astronomer,"  or  too  silly  to  reach  the  dignity 
of  madness.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  his  intellect  must 
be  very  narrow,  and  his  prejudices  most  absurd,  if  he 
has  not  been  able  to  rid  himself  of  the  superstition,  that 
our  system  is  the  best  for  all  nations,  all  times,  all  cir- 
cumstances, and  all  stages  of  intelligence,  merely  be- 
cause it  happens  so  to  be  for  us  and  ours.  He  must 
be  made  of  impenetrable  stuff  indeed,  if  observation 
abroad  has  not  convinced  him  —  as  sanity  and  reflec- 
tion at  home  might  surely  do  —  that  no  government 
under  popular  auspices  is  likely  to  answer  its  true  pur- 
poses, unless  it  tally,  not  merely  with  the  abstract  con- 


SPAIN.  55 

victioiis  and  theoretical  demonstrations  of  constitution- 
tinkers,  but  with  the  actual  necessities,  the  ingrained 
habits,  sentiments,  and  traditions,  the  very  prejudices 
and  weaknesses,  of  the  people  whose  welfare  it  con- 
cerns. 

It  is  easy  enough  to  create  institutions.  Mr.  Burke's 
inventory  of  what  was  to  be  found  in  the  pigeon-holes 
of  the  Abb'  Sieyes,  is  but  a  trifle  compared  with  the 
stock  in  the  market  at  present.  All  pojjular  govern- 
ment, nevertheless,  must  be  a  form  and  a  folly,  unless  it 
be  the  shadow  of  the  true,  predominating  national  char- 
acter,—  the  projection,  as  it  were,  of  the  national  mind 
and  temper.  Men  are  not  to  be  dealt  with  as  right- 
angled  triangles,  and  he  is  a  sad  statesman,  be  he  ever 
so  much  a  j)hilosopher,  who  acts  upon  the  notion  that 
human  nature  is  one  of  the  exact  sciences.  The  best 
constitution  in  the  world  will  be  but  a  source  of  per- 
petual discord,  misrule,  or  no  rule  at  all,  unless  there 
be  the  adequate  amount  of  good  sense  and  good  feeling 
among  the  people,  to  get  them  practically  out  of  the 
theoretical  difficulties  against  which  no  foresio-ht  can 
entirely  provide.  A  very  bad  constitution,  on  the  other 
hand,  with  popular  intelligence  and  purity,  and  a  com- 
promising spirit  to  remedy  its  defects  and  relieve  it 
when  in  straits,  will  make  a  people  prosperous  and 
happy  for  many  generations,  —  or,  to  speak,  perhaps, 
more  logically,  will  interpose  no  serious  obstacle  to 
their  snaking  themselves  so.  In  England  they  get 
along  very  well  with  a  system  which  would  set  all 
Yankecdom  at  loggerheads  in  a  month.  Here  we 
seem  to  have  a  passion  for  making  ourselves  uncom- 
fortable, under  a  constitution  which  ought  to  secure  the 


56 


SPAIN. 


peace  and  felicity  of  any  people  out  of  Bedlam.  No- 
where in  the  world  have  wiser  or  more  eloquent  expo- 
sitions of  the  true  principles  of  government  been  heard, 
than  in  the  late  French  Assembly,  and  yet  they  proba- 
bly afford  a  less  substantial  indication  of  rational  repub- 
licanism to  come,  than  would  be  furnished  by  the  exist- 
ence of  a  single  thorough-bred  French  Quaker,  —  drab, 
broad-brimmed,  earnest,  and  orthodox.  One  such  fixed 
human  fact  would  show  the  possibility  of  self-control 
among  a  people  who  as  yet  have  given  no  pi'oofs 
of  it, — just  as  the  finding  of  a  solitary  fossil  man  or 
monkey  would  settle  for  ever  one  of  the  problems  of 
geology.  Without  that  self-control,  who  shall  pretend 
that  the  legitimacy  of  La  Rochejacquelin  and  Monta- 
lembert,  or  the  coup  (Tetat  of  Louis  Napoleon,  is  of 
less  promise  for  good  than  the  drunken  Utopia  of 
socialism  } 

The  art  of  good  government  may  find  more  profit- 
able analogies  in  medicine  than  mathematics.  The 
man  who  is  only  weak  needs  but  a  staff;  the  cripple 
requires  his  crutches ;  he  of  the  fractured  limb  must 
have  it  bandaged,  splintered,  and  put  at  rest.  The  sur- 
geon should  be  hanged,  without  benefit  of  clergy,  who 
would  prescribe  gymnastics  to  them  all,  because  their 
neighbors,  who  were  not  halt,  could  dance  and  be 
glad  at  a  merry-making.  We  have  quacks  enough 
among  us,  notwithstanding,  who  are  always  prescribing 
to  other  people,  in  the  way  of  government,  something 
quite  as  innocent  and  sensible.  Now  the  fact  is,  —  let 
the  newspapers  and  stump-orators  say  what  they  please, 
—  that  the  sun  of  civilization  neither  rises  nor  sets 
within  our  national  limits,  ample  though  they  be.     The 


SPAIN.  57 

moon  of  Alliens  was  no  finer  moon  than  that  of  Cor- 
inth, though  there  were  Atlienian  patriots,  in  Plutarch's 
time,  who  would  have  fought  to  prove  it  so.  Willi  a 
good  deal  of  political  philosophy,  and  extraordinary 
political  sagacity,  we  yet  have  no  monopoly  of  either. 
We  are  not,  like  the  friends  of  holy  Job,  "  the  only 
men,"  nor  is  there  any  danger  that  "  wisdom  will  die 
with"  us.  A  fair  appreciation  of  these  truths  would 
greatly  enlighten  some  of  our  public  men  and  popular 
oracles,  who  seem  to  be  entirely  unaware  that  there  is 
a  breathing,  thinking  world  outside  the  happy  valley 
which  surrounds  their  tripods.  It  would  save  us  (a 
wise  economy  !)  Heaven  knows  how  much  of  cant 
and  fustian,  which  now  pass,  unhappily,  with  many,  as 
the  only  language  of  patriotism  and  the  genuine  evan- 
gely  of  the  rights  of  man.  It  would,  upon  occasions  of 
national  solemnity  or  rejoicing,  make  teachers  and 
counsellors  of  our  statesmen,  instead  of  flatterers  mere- 
ly, as,  for  the  most  part,  now  they  are.  It  would  have 
spared  us  the  recent  triumphal  march  of  Hungarian 
propagandism  over  our  national  dignity  and  self-respect. 


58  SPAIN. 


VII. 


The  Executive  and  Judiciary.  —  Juries  and  the  Trial 

BY  Jury. 

In  view  of  the  substantial  influence  which  the  Span- 
ish executive  has  been  shown  to  possess  and  exercise 
over  the  legislature,  and  through  it  over  all  the  details 
of  government,  it  would  seem  hardly  worth  while  to 
analyze  the  functions  which,  on  the  face  of  the  con- 
stitution, legitimately  belong  to  the  monarch.  These, 
nevertheless,  in  themselves,  are  quite  as  extensive  and 
various  as  would  seem  compatible  with  the  notion  of  a 
limited  monarchy. 

The  Queen  is  irresponsible,  and  her  person  is  in- 
violable. The  royal  dignity  is  hereditary  in  her  line. 
She  is  the  fountain  of  justice,  which  is  administered  in 
her  name.  She  has  the  power  to  convoke  the  Cortes, 
suspend  and  close  their  sessions,  and  dissolve  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies  at  will,  —  subject  only  to  the  obliga- 
tion, in  the  last  case,  of  calling  together  a  new  legislature 
within  three  months  after  such  dissolution.  Through 
her  ministers,  she  may  introduce  projects  of  laws  for 
the  consideration  of  the  Cortes,  and  she  may  not  only 


SPAIN.  59 

refuse  lier  sanction  to  a  law,  but  thereby  prevent  its  re- 
vival during  the  session  of  the  legislature  in  which  it 
may  have  arisen.  This  last  result,  however,  can  be 
equally  well  attained  by  the  dissent  of  cither  house 
from  a  law  originating  in  the  other,  so  that  the  Senate 
may  relieve  her  Majesty,  if  need  be,  from  the  necessity 
of  interposing  her  prerogative  in  cases  where  it  would 
be  unpopular  or  impolitic.  The  promulgation  and  ex- 
ecution of  all  the  laws  are  her  especial  duties,  and  in 
the  performance  of  the  latter  she  has  the  right  to  issue 
such  orders,  decrees,  and  instructions  as  may  seem 
meet  to  her.  In  practice,  this  enables  her  to  explain, 
modify,  amplify,  or  nullify,  very  much  at  discretion. 
She  is  the  arbiter  of  war  and  peace,  and  distributes 
and  disposes  of  the  army  at  her  will.  She  directs  and 
regulates  commercial  and  diplomatic  relations ;  coins 
money ;  pardons  criminals  ;  and  has  the  uncontrolled 
disposition  of  all  offices  and  honors.  She  needs  the 
assent  of  the  Cortes,  however,  to  any  alienation  of  the 
national  territory',  and  she  cannot,  without  their  per- 
mission, admit  foreign  troops  into  the  kingdom,  ratify 
commercial  treaties  or  offensive  alliances,  make  any 
stipulations  for  the  payment  of  subsidies,  or  abdicate 
the  crown  in  favor  of  her  immediate  successor. 

Tiie  amount  of  the  royal  income  is  fixed  by  the 
Cortes  at  the  beginning  of  each  reign.  Her  present 
Majesty  has  certainly  no  reason  to  complain  of  her  loyal 
people  in  that  particular,  since  her  annual  endowment 
is  thirty-four  millions  of  reals,  equal  to  one  million 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars,  over  and  above  the 
royal  patrimony,  which  is  immense,  and  with  which  the 
legislature  has  nothing  to  do.    The  King  Consort,  whose 


60  SPAIN. 

majesty  is  merely  titular,  and  who  has  no  concern  what- 
ever with  the  government,  has  a  yearly  stipend  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  That  of  the 
Queen  Mother  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, in  addition  to  the  immense  private  fortune  which 
she  has  acquired  through  her  connection  with  the  Span- 
ish throne.  The  rest  of  the  royal  family,  embracing 
the  Duchess  of  Montpensier  and  the  remoter  collat- 
eral branches,  have  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  thou- 
sand dollars  per  annum  among  them,  making  two  mil- 
lion two  hundred  and  ninety-five  thousand  dollars,  in 
all,  according  to  the  official  presupuesto,  or  budget,  for 
1850,  which  is  lying  before  me. 

The  judicial  department,  by  its  constitutional  organi- 
zation, is  not  likely  to  be  much  of  a  clog  to  the  prerog- 
atives, direct  and  indirect,  which  the  monarch  is  so 
liberally  paid  for  exercising.  The  judges  are  appointed 
by  the  crown,  their  number  and  functions  being  regu- 
lated by  law.  Except  in  extraordinary  and  enumerated 
cases,  the  determination  of  causes,  civil  and  criminal, 
is  committed  to  the  Alcaldes ;  the  judges  of  Primera 
Insta7icia,  or  primary  jurisdiction  ;  the  territorial  Audi- 
encias ;  and  the  Supreme  Tribunal  of  Justice.  An  ap- 
peal lies,  generally  speaking,  from  the  court  in  which 
proceedings  are  instituted,  to  that  which  stands  next 
above  it,  in  the  order  in  which  I  have  enumerated  them. 
In  some  suits,  if  the  litigants  please  and  can  live  long 
enough,  they  may  chase  justice  through  the  covers  and 
preserves  of  the  whole  judicial  establishment.  Eccle- 
siastics, in  many  cases,  and  those  engaged  in  the  mili- 
tary and  naval  services,  have  their  separate  tribunals 
and  fueros,  or  privileges.    Commercial  causes  are  also 


SPAIN.  61 

hcaril  by  special  courts,  whose  jurisdiction  and  decisions 
are  prescribed  and  regulated  by  a  separate  code.  Be- 
sides these,  there  are  many  exceptional  jurisdictions 
and  privileges  of  forum,  which  are  annexed  to  particu- 
lar stations  and  classes,  so  that,  if  legal  tribunals  be,  as 
Carlyle  has  said,  but  "  chimneys  for  the  deviltry  and 
contention  of  men  to  escape  by,"  Madrid  ought  cer- 
tainly to  smoke  like  Birmingham.  By  the  official  re- 
port, published  at  the  beginning  of  1850,  there  were 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-seven  lawyers  in  the  capital, 
of  whom  five  hundred  and  seven  were  candidates  for 
practice.  The  population  of  the  city  being  but  little 
over  two  hundred  thousand,  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  chimneys  will  not  suffer  for  want  of 
fuel  or  tending. 

The  constitution  provides  that  no  judicial  officer 
shall  be  removed,  except  by  sentence  of  a  competent 
tribunal,  or  suspended,  unless  by  due  judicial  action,  or 
a  royal  order  alleging  sufficient  cause,  with  a  view  to 
prosecution.  As  before  observed,  this  suspensory  pre- 
rogative in  the  monarch  is  a  complete  negation  of  all 
real  independence ;  but  when  it  is  added,  that  the  of- 
fences committed  by  a  judge,  in  his  official  capacity, 
are  to  be  tried  by  his  next  superior,  —  save  in  the  case 
of  the  supreme  tribun;il,  where  the  offender  is  judf^ed 
by  his  fellows,  —  and  that  the  arbiter,  like  the  accused, 
is  the  appointee  of  the  crown,  and  liable  to  similar  sus- 
pension and  prosecution,  it  cannot  but  be  obvious  that 
the  whole  judiciary  is,  for  all  needful  purposes,  under 
stringent  executive  control.  The  noted  case  of  Diaz 
Martinez,  which  was  tried  during  my  visit,  furnished 
very   satisfactory  evidence  that  the  ermine  could    be 


62 


SPAIN. 


made  to  take  an  exceedingly  ministerial  hue.  The 
prisoner  was  charged  with  having  addressed  General 
Narvaez,  by  letter,  in  a  style  which  was  interpreted  to 
signify  a  challenge.  That  eminent  functionary  cannot 
easily  be  made  afraid,  and  has,  as  a  general  thing,  no 
particular  objection  to  the  handling  of  deadly  weapons, 
if  it  occurs  to  him,  but  as  he  was  altogether  "  ego  et  rex 
mens,''''  it  fell  little  short  of  Isese-majesty  to  compass  or 
contrive  his  bodily  peril  or  discomfort,  against  his  will,  — 
and  the  unhappy  Martinez  was  dealt  with  accordingly. 
His  defence  was  conducted  with  characteristic  manli- 
ness and  ability,  by  Don  Joaquin  Francisco  Pacheco,  a 
very  eminent  jurist  and  advocate,  and  there  was  but  little 
difference  of  opinion,  as  far  as  I  could  collect,  among 
professional  men  of  all  parties,  in  regard  to  the  utter 
illegality  and  anomalism  of  the  proceeding.  The  Juez 
de  Primera  Instancia,  however,  who  heard  the  cause, 
had  no  difficulty  in  arriving  at  a  judgment  of  conviction. 
I  read  his  opinion,  which  certainly  bore  both  obsequi- 
ousness and  absurdity  upon  its  face.  As  the  sentence 
involved  serious  pains  and  penalties,  the  case  was  taken 
to  a  higher  tribunal  ;  but  it,  of  course,  is  not  easy  to 
foretell  the  result,  where  the  ways  of  justice  are  so  much 
in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

The  trial  by  jury  has  never  been  thoroughly  incor- 
porated into  the  judicial  administration  of  the  Peninsula. 
Some  antiquarians  have  persuaded  themselves  that  they 
have  discovered  its  germ  in  the  ancient  constitutions 
of  Aragon,  as  well  as  in  some  of  the  older  codes  and 
charters  of  Castile.  Distinct  evidences  of  its  existence 
are  said  to  appear,  particularly,  in  the  Fuero  Juzgo  of 
the  Visigoths.     It  will  be  found,  however,  upon  exam- 


SPAIN.  63 

ination,  that  the  provisions  which  arc  rehed  on  as  in 
point  ilo  not  approach  much  nearer  to  estabhsliing  the 
theory  as  now  understood  and  practised  on,  than  the 
initials  of  the  "  lang  kidle  "  at  Monkbarns  to  an  inscrip- 
tion of  Agricola's.  Better  proof  of  their  insufficiency 
could  hardly  be  found  than  the  very  language  used  in 
the  Fucro  Juzgo,  where  it  directs  ten  assistants  to  be 
chosen  as  the  Alcalde's  coadjutors  in  certain  cases,  "  ex 
optiinis,  et  nohilissimis,  et  sapienlissiinis.''''  Such  epi- 
thets, it  is  clear,  could  never  have  been  gravely  intended 
to  designate  jurymen,  even  in  those  days  of  primitive 
jurisprudence  and  mediaeval  Latinity.  But  let  the  anti- 
quarians be  right  or  wrong,  as  they  may,  certain  it  is, 
that  within  the  memory  of  modern  men  nothing  like 
the  trial  by  jury  has  existed  in  Spain,  except  very  lately, 
partially,  and  for  a  brief  period.  The  constitution  of 
1812  provided  for  its  future  introduction,  in  case  it 
should  be  deemed  advisable,  but  it  was  not  practically 
adopted  until  1822,  and  then  only  for  the  trial  of  cases 
arising  under  the  laws  which  regulated  the  press. 
Having  disappeared  in  1S23,  with  the  press  and  the 
constitutional  system,  it  was  revived  with  them  in  1836, 
and  was  again  recognized  by  the  constitution  of  1837, 
though  still  confined  to  the  same  class  of  cases.  The 
law  of  1844,  which  modified  the  freedom  of  the  press 
according  to  the  notions  of  the  Moderados,  provided  a 
hybridous  sort  of  jury,  with  innumerable  requisites  and 
all  manner  of  embarrassing  paraphernalia,  which  must 
have  made  it  unavailable  as  a  working  thinir  and  were 
probably  intended  to  do  so.  The  constitution  of  1845 
has  no  jury  clause  whatever,  and  by  the  legislation  of 
that  year  all  the  lingering  traces  of  the  "  Palladium  " 
were  finally  swept  away. 


64  SPAIN. 

Wliatever  may  be  the  course  hereafter  in  Spain  of 
that  political  amelioration  which  is  certainly  going  on, 
it  is  not  likely,  for  many  reasons,  that  the  jury  system 
will  ever  become  ingrafted  upon  theirs,  as  an  institu- 
tion of  general  scope.  We,  whose  notions  have  been 
formed  by  the  study  or  by  our  experience  of  the  com- 
mon law  of  England,  are  apt  to  consider  the  trial  of 
facts  by  laymen  as  absolutely  essential  to  the  bene- 
ficial operation  of  every  popular  or  liberal  form  of 
government,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  we  gen- 
erally state  our  doctrine  on  the  subject  a  great  deal 
too  exclusively  and  broadly.  It  of  course  must  be 
conceded,  that,  for  the  trial  of  criminal  causes,  the 
jury,  on  the  whole,  is  the  most  satisfactory  contriv- 
ance which  the  ingenuity  of  men  has  thus  far  been 
able  to  devise.  Without  reference,  moreover,  to  the 
subjects  of  its  action,  the  introduction  of  so  popular  an 
element  into  the  administration  of  justice  must  neces- 
sarily tend  to  diffuse  among  the  community,  from  whose 
ranks  the  jurors  are  indiscriminately  taken,  a  higher 
degree  of  confidence  in  the  tribunals  of  the  law,  and  a 
heartier  disposition  to  respect  and  uphold  their  judg- 
ments. Nothing,  of  course,  can  contribute  more  than 
such  a  result  to  the  stability  of  society  and  the  sure 
enjoyment  of  the  rights  which  lie  at  its  foundation. 

It  is  not  to  be  questioned,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
immediate  and  frequent  contact  with  the  system,  as 
it  works,  has  the  effect  of  notably  diminishing  our 
reverence  for  it  as  a  mode  of  arriving  at  the  truth. 
It  doubtless  affords  admirable  scope  for  the  dexterous 
playing  of  that  uncertain  game,  the  law,  and  hence 
must  always  command  many  eloquent  suffrages  from 


SPAIN.  65 

the  professional  players.  But,  with  a  good  cause  and 
no  other  object  than  the  enforcement  of  right,  I  greatly 
doubt  whether  any  candid  man,  among  those  who  know 
the  jury  system  best,  would  hesitate  about  selecting,  in 
preference  to  it,  the  intervention  of  a  well-trained  and 
well-educated  judge.  Where  the  object  is  to  put  the 
right  and  the  wrong  upon  a  level,  and  to  take  the 
chances  of  their  confusion,  I  grant  that  the  choice  would 
probably  be  dilfcrent;  but  such  cases  surely  afford  no 
test.  Experience  has  taught  that  courts  of  equity  are 
altogether  capable  of  dealing,  justly  and  wisely,  with 
the  greatest  complications  of  fact,  —  so  that  issues  are 
sent  from  them  to  juries  in  but  few  and  peculiar  cases. 
There  are,  it  may  be  safely  said,  no  tribunals  in  our 
country  whose  decisions  are  more  uniformly  just,  or 
more  universally  approved,  than  those  of  the  federal 
courts  sitting  in  admiralty  without  juries.  In  those 
States  of  the  Union,  too,  where  the  judges  are  empow- 
ered to  try  issues  of  fact  with  the  consent  of  parties, 
the  large  number  of  cases,  both  civil  and  criminal,  in 
which  juries  are  willingly  dispensed  with,  may  be  taken 
as  the  best  evidence  of  a  public  and  practical  convic- 
tion greatly  differing  from  the  theory  about  which  there 
is  so  much  declamation.  Nor  is  it  at  all  wonderful, 
that  such  a  conviction  should  exist.  As  juries  are  se- 
lected and  constituted  generally,  both  in  England  and  this 
country,  their  verdicts  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  are  but 
the  results  of  voting  by  ballot  or"  striking  an  average  "  ; 
and  it  is  by  no  means  an  easy  matter  to  determine 
how  often  a  wilful  appetite,  and  an  anxious  desire  to 
leave  the  unprofitable  adjustment  of  other  men's  busi- 
ness for  the  more  advantageous  pursuit  of  their  own 

5 


66  SPAIN. 

may  cause  the  majority  of  the  imprisoned  twelve  to 
select  the  promptest  conclusion  as  the  best. 

Perfect  or  imperfect,  however,  as  the  institution 
may  be  in  its  present  shape  and  operation,  it  is  with  us, 
to  some  extent,  a  sacred  thing.  It  is  surrounded  by 
so  many  of  the  holiest  associations,  and  has  fought  so 
many  of  the  best  battles  of  freedom,  that  it  is  destined 
long  to  remain  a  sign  of  that  popular  security  to  which 
it  is  no  longer  necessary  as  an  element  or  a  guaranty. 
With  the  Spaniards,  however,  it  has  no  such  prestige, 
and  as  it  has  never  been  a  household  god  to  them, 
there  seems  no  particular  reason  why  they  should  give 
it  a  place  in  their  inner  worship,  as  we  do  in  ours.  The 
very  familiar  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  laws  and 
customs  of  England,  which  many  of  their  most  in- 
telligent and  influential  statesmen  have  acquired  dur- 
ing long  years  of  exile  in  that  land  of  European  asy- 
lum, will  most  probably  secure,  in  time,  the  introduction 
of  the  trial  by  jury,  to  such  an  extent  and  in  such  cases 
as  may  accord  with  the  best  features  of  their  own  ven- 
erable jurisprudence.  They  may  be  enabled  thus  to 
strike  the  happy  medium,  between  the  subserviency  of 
judges  to  power  and  wealth,  and  that  dread  of  public 
passion  and  deference  to  popular  opinion,  which  too 
often  make  the  jury-room  but  an  echo  of  the  press  and 
of  the  voices  that  cry  aloud  in  the  streets. 


SPAIN.  67 


YIII. 


Jurisprudence.  —  Codes.  —  Colonial  System.  —  Admin- 
iSTU.^TioN  OF  Justice.  —  Escribanos.  —  Judges.  —  Tub 
Legal  Profession. 

Notwithstanding  the  very  formidable  expansion 
which  is  frequently  ascribed  to  the  Spani-sh  jurispru- 
dence, it  is  really  condensed  within  limits  which  appear 
extremely  moderate,  to  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  or- 
dinary copiousness  of  popular  legislation.  The  codes 
into  which  it  has  been  shaped  are,  it  is  true,  voluminous 
enough,  but  those  of  them  which  are  of  common  and 
practical  application  can  easily  be  mastered,  with  rea- 
sonable industry.  Let  other  evils  be  what  they  may, 
the  judges  are  not  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  toiling 
through  innumerable  reports  and  the  varj-ing  opinions 
of  judicial  legislators  and  expounders,  —  sages  some- 
times, dolts  and  doubters  often,  —  in  order  to  excogitate 
what  they  can  from  prior  cogitations,  which  are  not  the 
less  authoritative  because  they  are  in  great  part  con- 
tradictory. It  is  reserved  for  the  freest  and  most  en- 
lightened of  the  nations  to  rejoice  in  such  judicial  pre- 
cision and  philosophy  as  that  amounts  to,  and  gravely 


68  SPAIN. 

to  set  it  up  for  men  to  worship,  as  "  the  perfection  of 
reason."  Since  the  Goddess  of  Reason,  in  the  French 
Revolution,  there  has  not  probably  existed  a  deity  bear- 
ing the  name  with  a  less  reputable  character  or  more 
flimsy  pretensions. 

The  Novisima  Recopilacion,  published  by  Charles  the 
Fourth  in  1806,  is  the  most  recent  digest  of  the  Spanish 
law,  and  is  binding  in  all  cases  not  affected  by  subse- 
quent legislation.  It  had  for  a  nucleus  the  Nueva  Re- 
cojnlacion  of  Philip  the  Second,  (sometimes  called  the 
Recopilacion,  simply,)  and  may,  perhaps,  be  more  prop- 
erly considered  as  but  the  latest  edition  of  that  great 
code,  with  the  intermediate  enactments  and  judicial  ex- 
positions incorporated.  The  more  ancient  jurisprudence 
of  Castile  is,  however,  the  basis  of  these  later  works, 
and  the  antique  codes  have  therefore  some  authority 
still,  —  not  merely  as  illustrating  the  modern  text,  but 
as  operative,  of  themselves,  in  cases  not  otherwise  pro- 
.  vided  for.  The  Novisima  Recopilacion^  by  a  special 
provision,  determines  the  order  in  which  the  codes  shall 
bind^  —  giving  preference,  among  the  more  ancient,  to 
the  Fuero  Real,  which  was  promulgated  in  1255  by 
Alfonso  the  Wise  ;  next  admitting  the  Fueros  Municipa- 
les,  or  municipal  charters  of  right,  from  time  to  time 
recognized  or  granted  by  Saint  Ferdinand  and  his  more 
immediate  successors  ;  and  resting  finally  upon  the  Si- 
ete  Partidas,  which,  though  prepared  under  the  super- 
vision of  Alfonso  the  Wise,  were  not  published  till  long 
after  his  death,  during  the  reign  of  Alfonso  the  Elev- 
enth. 

Since  the  promulgation  of  the  Novisima  Recopilacion, 
there  has  been  no  collection  of  the  laws  printed,  which 


SPAIN,  69 

approximates   or  pretends   to  completeness.     The   de- 
crees of  Ferdinand    the  Seventh  and  of   the   difTerent 
Cortes  are,  it  is  true,  readily  accessible    in  print,  but 
many  radical  changes  have  been  wrought,  by  special 
orders,  resolutions,  and  interpretations,  which  lie  buried 
for  the  most  part  so  deeply  in  the  executive  archives, 
that,  for  all  purposes  of  general  information,  they  had  as 
well  been  affixed  to  the  top  of  the  old  tyrant's  column. 
Indeed,  the  whole  system  of  administration  has  under- 
gone so  many  shocks  and  revolutions  during  the  present 
century,  that  it  is  not  always  easy  to  determine  the  pre- 
cise location  even  of  the  archives  themselves,  through 
which  the  course  of  any  particular  legislation  is  to  be 
traced.     So  many  councils  have  been  modified,  abol- 
ished, and  recreated  with  new  functions,  and  the  duties 
of  all  and  each  have  been  so  often  altered  and  trans- 
ferred, that,  even  after  ascertaining  the  date  and  origin 
of  a  decree  or  order,  it  is  next  to  impossible,  often,  to 
discover  in  what  vortex  of  the  documentary  chaos  the 
authoritative  original  may  be  revolving.     Fortunately, 
the  cases  in  which  this  uncertainty  and  difficulty  exist 
are  for  the  most  part  administrative   or   merely  polit- 
ical, so  that  the  ordinary  course  of  public  justice  is  not 
often  obstructed  or  obscured  thereby. 

So  large  a  portion  of  territory  on  this  continent,  be- 
longing once  to  Spain,  has  now  become  attached  to  the 
American  Union,  that  it  may  not  be  altogether  out  of 
place  in  this  connection  to  notice  briefly  the  Spanish 
colonial  jurisprudence.  The  laws  governing  "  the  In- 
dies "  —  by  which  title  all  the  discoveries  in  both  hemi- 
spheres are  comprehended  —  were  always  wholly  sep- 
arate from  the  main  body  of  domestic  legislation.     In 


70  SPAIN. 

1511  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  created  the  Supreme 
Council  of  Indies,  to  which  he  gave,  under  the  royal  su- 
pervision only,  the  entire  control  of  the  colonies,  in  all 
matters,  legislative,  executive,  ecclesiastical,  and  judi- 
cial. Charles  the  Fifth,  in  1524,  in  some  degree  mod- 
ified the  form  of  this  almost  sovereign  body,  but  the 
ordinances  for  its  regulation  were  not  given  to  the 
world,  with  any  completeness,  until  1636,  during  the 
reign  of  Philip  the  Fourth.  In  1658  a  small  number 
of  its  decrees  and  acts  were  published.  In  1680 
Charles  the  Second  had  the  glory  of  promulgating  the 
gigantic  work  called  the  Recopilacion  de  las  Leyes  de 
Indias,  —  a  complete  body  of  jurisprudence,  which, 
although  modified  from  time  to  time,  and  not  always 
wisely,  is  still  the  main  depository  of  colonial  right. 
Where,  by  chance,  it  may  be  silent  or  have  become  in- 
operative, the  vigorous  old  legislation  of  Castile  fills  up 
the  chasm. 

Those  who  judge  of  the  merits  of  the  Recopilacion 
de  Indias  solely  from  the  results  of  the  civilization 
which  it  was  intended  to  direct,  will  do  but  poor  justice 
to  the  most  complete  and  comprehensive  scheme  of  co- 
lonial government  which  the  world  has  ever  known. 
Although,  no  doubt,  greatly  defective  in  many  particu- 
lars, and  tinctured  most  prejudicially  with  the  errors 
in  political  economy  which  were  peculiar  to  the  times, 
the  Recopilacion  bears  all  about  it  evidences  of  the  most 
far-seeing  wisdom,  the  most  laborious  and  comprehen- 
sive investigation  and  management  of  details,  and  a 
spirit  of  enlightened  humanity  not  easily  to  be  exceeded. 
That,  with  these  characteristics,  it  should  have  been 
practically  so  complete  a  failure,  seems  at  first  sight 


SPAIN.  71 

somewliat  paradoxical  hut  historians  have  given  many 
good  reasons  for  it,  which  are  obvious  enougli,  though 
it  would  be   foreign  to   my  purpose  to  repeat  them. 
There  was  one    fundamental  error, —  an  error   rather 
of  the  system  than  of  the  code,  —  which  would  sufhce, 
of  itself,  to  account  for  all  the  consequences  that  have 
ensued  ;   I  mean  the  idea  that  colonies  could  be  nursed 
into  great  nations  and    yet    preserved  as  colonics.     It 
was  upon  this  impossibility  that  the   Rccopilacion  was 
stranded.     Its  municipal  regulations,  its  laws  controlling 
territorial  acquisition  and  descent,  its  whole  commercial 
plan  and  political  economy,  had  but  the  single  purpose 
of  building  up  empires,  to  be  yet  dependent  upon  the 
mother  country.  .  The  prosperity  of  the  colonies,  even 
as  colonics,  was  thus  rendered  impossible.     If  they  took 
a  step  forward,  it  was  with  a  chain  and  a  clog  on  their 
feet.     They  were  kept  for  a  long  time,  it  is  true,  from 
being  independent,  but  they  were  prevented,  during  all 
the  time,  from  growing  vigorous  or  great.     When  they 
became  free,  at  last,  it  was  through  the  weakness  of 
the  metropolis,  and    not   through   their   own  strength. 
They  escaped  from  being  governed  by  others,  but  they 
did  not  know,  nor  have  they  yet  learned,  how  to  govern 
themselves.     If  it   had  been   the  order  of  Providence 
that  children  should   be  children  always,  the  Spanish 
system  had  certainly  been  successful,  for  it  was  wise  to 
that  end.     As  Providence  has  otherwise  ordained  the 
nature  of  men  and  nations,  the  introduction  of  so  unnat- 
ural a  basis  made  all  its  wisdom  folly. 

Of  the  decrees  and  other  enactments  which  have 
been  passed  and  promulgated  since  the  Rccopilacion 
de  Indias,  there  is  no  collection  whatever  extant,  and 


iZ  SPAIN. 

the  most  learned  of  the  colonial  jurisconsults  are  only 
familiar  or  unfamiliar  with  them  by  comparison.  In 
the  enlightened  reign  of  Charles  the  Third,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  digest  a  new  code  out  of  all  the  then  ex- 
isting materials;  but  although  the  work  was  prosecuted 
nearly  to  its  conclusion  in  the  following  reigns,  and 
was  in  1819  ready  for  the  press,  to  which  it  was  on 
the  point  of  being  given,  it  disappeared  altogether  dur- 
ing the  subsequent  revolutions,  and  there  is  now  no 
trace  whatever  of  the  digest  itself,  or  of  the  multitu- 
dinous and  valuable  documents  collected  for  its  prep- 
aration. It  may  be  lymg,  for  aught  that  the  best 
lawyer  in  Madrid  can  tell,  among  the  rubbish  in  the 
garret  of  a  neglected  archivo,  or  have  been  sold  by  the 
arroha  to  the  proprietor  of  a  book-stall,  to  be  retailed 
at  a  real  or  a  dollar  the  volume,  according  to  the  vend- 
er's theory  of  the  purchaser's  curiosity  and  pocket. 

Under  the  ministry  of  the  Marquis  of  Sonora,  in 
1786,  there  was  a  collection  of  ordinances  published, 
for  the  establishment  and  regulation  of  Intendancies  in 
New  Spain.  These  were  in  time  extended  to  the  rest 
of  the  colonies,  so  far  as  they  were  applicable.  The 
general  ordinance  for  the  government  of  colonial  Inten- 
dants,  which  saw  the  light  in  1803,  and  was  the  result 
of  much  labor  and  ability,  was,  by  a  strange  caprice, 
revoked  almost  entirely  in  1804,  and  is  now  but  par- 
tially operative  in  any  particular.  The  Council  of  In- 
dies was  abolished  by  the  Cortes  of  1812.  It  was  too 
princely  an  establishment,  as  it  stood,  for  a  limited  mon- 
archy. It  was,  however,  reestablished  by  Ferdinand 
the  Seventh  in  1814,  but  fell  again  in  1820,  upon  the 
reproclamation  of  the  constitution,  —  was  restored   in 


SPAIN.  73 

1823,  and  finally  suppressed  in  1834.  Its  functions 
are  now  distributed  among  tlie  several  executive  depart- 
ments. Those  who  are  best  informed  do  not  hesitate 
to  say,  that,  properly  modified,  the  Council  would  have 
been  an  invaluable  administrative  agent  under  any  sys- 
tem, and  that  its  destruction  has  put  an  end  for  the 
present  to  that  politic  and  comprehensive  unity,  with- 
out which  there  cannot  be  much  scope  or  efficacy  in 
any  scheme  of  colonial  government. 

Of  the  administration  of  justice  in  Spain,  a  great 
deal  has  been  said  by  writers  of  all  classes,  foreign  and 
domestic  ;  but  nothing  particularly  complimentary, 
that  I  have  ever  seen.  I  low  far  the  evils  of  the  sys- 
tem continue  to  be  oppressive  at  the  present  time,  I 
had  no  opportunity  of  knowing,  except  from  hearsay, 
which  did  not  leave  any  favorable  impressions.  The 
escrihano,  the  clerk  or  notary,  —  a  sort  of  judicial  go- 
between, —  is,  on  all  hands,  conceded  to  be  the  chief 
nuisance  in  the  details  of  the  system.  Every  picture 
that  is  painted  of  the  law's  delay  and  of  the  costly  in- 
justice for  which  men  curse  it,  has  for  its  chief  figure 

"  cl  escribano, 
Con  semblante  infernal  y  pliima  en  mano." 

The  suitor  who  unhappily  is  forced  to  seek  the  aid  of 
Themis  employs  a  procurador,  a  sort  of  inferior  at- 
torney, to  prepare  a  statement  of  his  grievance.  This 
passes  to  an  escribano,  through  whose  hands  it  goes  to 
the  tribunal  having  jurisdiction  ;  and  when  it  has  re- 
ceived the  proper  attention  there,  it  returns  to  the  escri- 
bano, who  gives  the  needful  direction  of  process  or 
notice  to  the  adverse  party.  The  defendant's  reply 
passes  up  to  the  bench,  through  the  escribano,  and  finds 


74  SPAIN. 

its  way  by  the  same  channel  to  the  plaintiff,  —  whose 
replication,  in  its  turn,  performs  the  same  voyage.  Thus 
the  matter  proceeds,  until  each  party  has  alleged  all 
that  he  has  to  say,  —  the  escrihano  of  course  taking 
toll  every  time  that  he  opens  the  gate,  or  allows  either 
party  to  look  over  the  fence  within  which  he  keeps  jus- 
tice impounded.  All  the  testimony  goes  up  in  the 
shape  of  declarations  made  before  the  escribano,  and 
reduced  by  him  to  writing.  Every  document  of  record 
is  copied  by  some  escribano  from  his  archives.  Indeed, 
there  is  nothing  which  concerns  the  case,  in  law  or  in 
fact,  of  which  the  escribano  is  not  the  conductor,  from 
the  judge  to  the  parties  and  from  the  parties  to  the 
judge  and  to  each  other.  How  completely  all  are  de- 
pendent upon  his  good  faith,  and  how  conveniently  he 
can  make  a  fortune,  —  not  merely  out  of  his  honest 
perquisites,  but  by  an  advantageous  use  of  his  good 
will  and  opportunities,  —  the  least  ingenious  of  the  sons 
of  men  may  readily  imagine. 

In  further  illustration  of  the  extent  to  which  the  rights 
of  the  community  depend  upon  the  honesty  and  pleas- 
ure of  these  scribes,  it  is  but  necessary  to  state  that 
they  are  the  depositaries  of  all  testamentary  records, 
and  of  all  deeds  and  contracts  whatever  which  are  re- 
quired to  be  in  writing.  A  man  desirous  of  making  his 
will  gives  his  instructions  to  any  escribano  he  may  se- 
lect, who  prepares  the  instrument,  which  the  testator 
executes  before  him  with  all  the  formalities.  The 
escribano  retains  the  original,  which  of  course  he  is 
bound  to  keep  secret  during  the  life  of  the  testator. 
Whether  he  observes  that  obligation  or  not  depends 
upon  his  integrity,  and  the  liberality  of  the  parties  who 


SPAIN.  75 

may  desire  to  penetrate  the  mysteries  of  the  future.  If 
he  chooses  to  |)lay  false,  lie  need  never  be  found  out. 
With  deeds  and  contracts  the  same  mode  of  prepara- 
tion and  registry  is  observed,  —  the  parties  being  fur- 
nished at  the  time  with  copies  if  they  require  them  ; 
the  originals  remaining  with  the  escrihano,  until  his 
death  or  disqualification,  and  passing  then  to  liis  suc- 
cessor. Each  escrihano  is,  by  law,  required  to  remit 
to  the  Audiencia  of  liis  district,  once  in  each  year,  a 
copy  of  the  index  to  his  records  made  during  that  period. 
The  ojicio  de  hipotecas,  or  mortgage-office,  in  each  dis- 
trict, is  likewise  annually  furnished  with  abstracts  of  all 
encumbrances  afTecting  real  property.  No  doubt  some 
check  is  thus  provided  upon  the  perpetration  of  gross 
fraud,  and  yet  the  suppression  of  an  occasional  document, 
in  both  index  and  abstract,  could  be  so  easily  managed 
and  might  be  so  profitable,  that  there  can  scarcely  be 
said  to  exist  any  real  security,  while  the  muniments  of 
title  are  in  so  many  hands,  and  secrecy  and  divided  re- 
sponsibility aflford  so  much  opportunity  and  temptation. 

Nor  must  it  be  supposed  that  in  any  case  a  man 
can  enter  a  public  or  notarial  archivo  and  search  the 
records  himself.  Profane  hands  cannot  be  allowed  to 
violate  the  sanctity  of  the  official  books  or  bundles,  and 
the  party  who  institutes  an  inquiry  is  compelled  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  accuracy  and  fidelity  of  the  escribanos 
in  making  the  searches,  and  their  candor  in  communi- 
eating  the  result.  When  you  have  ascertained  at  last 
the  existence  and  location  of  a  document  with  which 
it  interests  you  to  become  better  acquainted,  the  cscri- 
hano  will  permit  you  to  read  it  or  not,  according  to  his 
politeness  and   your  persuasiveness.     If  you  desire  a 


76  SPAIN. 

copy,  you  must  present  a  petition  therefor  to  a  Juez 
de  Primera  Listancia,  through  another  escrihano,  and 
when  you  have  procured  an  order,  —  which  you  cannot 
always  do  without  notice  to  other  parties  in  interest, 
and  perhaps  a  contest  with  them  of  indefinite  duration, 
—  you  serve  it  on  your  original  escrihano,  and  are  grat- 
ified. If  the  record  be  that  of  a  will,  the  juez  will  not 
allow  you  to  have  a  copy  or  an  extract,  unless  you  are 
an  heir  at  law  or  a  devisee.  If  you  are  fortunate 
enough  to  fill  either  of  these  chai'acters,  you  are  al- 
lowed a  copy  of  the  clause  which  affects  you,  preceded 
with  due  solemnity  by  the  formal  exordium,  wherein  the 
testator  makes  profession  of  faith,  tells  the  names  and 
genealogy  of  his  father  and  mother,  and  disposes  of  his 
soul  and  his  body.  The  whole  instrument  you  will  not 
be  permitted  to  have  transcribed  except  under  extraor- 
dinary circumstances.  You  cannot  need  such  a  trans- 
cript, they  suppose,  except  for  hostile  purposes,  and  for 
such  they  feel  under  no  obligation  to  afford  you  facili- 
ties. This  system,  doubtless,  has  many  evils,  but  it 
has  at  least  the  good  result,  that  the  "  upsetting "  of 
wills  is  not  very  frequent  in  Spain,  and  a  testator  is  not 
often  declared  7ion  compos,  because  he  happens  to  have 
had  some  notions  as  to  the  disposition  of  his  own  prop- 
erty differing  from  those  of  his  neighbors  and  his  heirs 
at  law. 

The  escrihano  gives  his  certificate  under  his  hand 
and  sign,  '■' signo,''''  instead  of  a  seal.  The  signo  is 
the  apex  of  an  immense  and  elaborate  flourish,  or 
ruhrica,  which  terminates  as  to  its  upper  parts  in  a  cross 
made  with  the'  pen  ;  —  that  sacred  "  sign  "  giving  so- 
lemnity to  the  authentication.      Each  notary,   on  his 


SPAIN.  77 

appointment,  writes  the  ruhrica  and  sigtio  wliich  he 
interuls  to  adopt,  and  leaves  them  with  the  "college'" 
to  which  he  belongs.  From  the  specimen  of  his  pen- 
manship thus  adopted  he  never  varies,  and  it  is  really 
curious  to  see  how  the  identity  of  the  hieroglyphic  is 
preserved,  from  the  firm,  bold  draft  of  it  in  youth,  to 
the  trembling  fac-simile  in  that  old  age,  which  notaries, 
like  all  place-holders,  are  sure,  under  Providence,  to 
reach.  When  any  instrument,  with  the  certificate  of 
an  escribano,  requires  to  be  formally  proved,  three  no- 
taries of  the  "  college,"  under  their  hands  and  signs 
and  the  seal  of  the  corporation,  authenticate  the  signa- 
ture and  sign  of  their  brother.  A  Juez  de  Prvnera 
Instancia  authenticates  the  certificate  of  the  three  no- 
taries ;  the  Regent  of  the  Audiencia  certifies  to  the 
Juez  ;  the  Minister  of  Grace  and  Justice,  who  is  the 
chief  notary  of  the  'realm,  authenticates  the  Regent ; 
the  Secretary  of  Foreign  Affairs  indorses  the  Minister, 
if  the  copy  is  to  be  used  in  evidence  abroad,  and  the 
diplomatic  representative  of  the  nation  for  which  it  is 
intended  puts  the  last  stone  on  the  house  that  Jack 
built.  By  the  time  that  the  fees  of  the  certifiers,  and 
of  the  procurador  who  obtained  the  certificates,  have 
been  paid,  the  evidence  may,  it  is  true,  be  worth 
nothing,  but  it  will  be  sure  to  have  cost  enough. 

Report  says  that  judges  in  Spain  are  not  altogether 
deaf  to  those  convincing  arguments  which  have  the 
ring  of  metal  in  them,  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  there 
is  a  great  deal  of  exaggeration  in  all  such  stories. 
Where  a  man  cannot  give  judgment  in  favor  of  both 
parties,  he  must  needs  displease  one,  who  naturally 
enough  takes  him  to  be  in  some  sort  a  fool  or  a  knave ; 


78  SPAIN. 

and  as  the  amount  and  nature  of  a  judge's  folly  are 
not  quite  so  comprehensible  to  the  unlearned  as  knav- 
ery is,  the  latter  is  generally  made  to  bear  the  principal 
burden  of  the  supposed  injustice.  The  publicity  of  all 
proceedings  under  the  common  law,  and  the  hourly 
challenge  which  the  judgments  of  courts  receive  from 
those  who  are  competent  to  give  it,  are  a  barrier,  in  a 
great  degree,  to  such  suspicions,  and  certainly  tend  to 
prevent  there  being  much  cause  for  them.  The  com- 
parative secrecy  and  silence  through  which  men  walk 
to  judgment  in  Spain,  leaves  room,  on  the  other  hand, 
for  much  questioning  of  motive,  and  as  surely  increases 
the  possibility  and  consequent  likelihood  of  its  being 
just.  Certain  it  is,  that  the  Spanish  judges  do  not  hold 
themselves  aloof,  as  with  us  judicial  delicacy  prompts, 
from  the  personal  influence  and  private  suggestions  of 
parties.  A  well-timed  present,  and  the  judicious  appli- 
cation of  that  personal  courtesy  and  attention,  which  go 
farther  with  a  Spaniard  than  with  any  other  man,  are 
not  considered  as  by  any  means  unwelcome  or  out  of 
place.  When  I  was  in  Seville,  in  1847,  one  of  my 
pleasantest  companions  was  an  old  gentleman  from 
Granada,  who  had  come  down,  he  told  me,  to  superin- 
tend a  pleito,  or  lawsuit,  of  a  friend  of  his,  which  was 
then  about  to  be  decided.  He  was  not  a  professional 
man,  and  his  errand  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  conduct 
of  the  case,  except  as  to  the  extra-forensic  part  of  it. 
Every  morning,  after  breakfast,  he  would  make  his  ap- 
pearance, muy  peripuesto,  well  brushed,  shaven,  and 
accoutred,  for  a  visit  to  the  judges.  "  Of  course,"  I 
said,  "  you  never  mention  the  suit  to  them  ?  "  "  Ave 
Maria  purissima !  "  was  the  reply,  "  are  you  dream- 


:> 


SPAIN.  79 

ing?  Do  you  think  I  came  all  tlie  way  from  Granada, 
para  hacer  cortesias,  to  make  bows  r  "  lie  then  told 
me  that,  of  course,  he  presented  his  views  to  their 
honors  very  much  at  large.  "  But  do  you  present  any 
thing  else  ?  "  "  Quien  sale  }  who  knows  ?  "  was  the 
satisfactory  reply.  If  my  friend's  opponents  were  as 
attentive  and  practical  as  he,  the  judges  may  well  be 
suspected  of  having  been  like  the  false  lawyer  in  the 
"Dance  of  the  Dead,"  — 

"  Don  falso  Abogado,  prcvalicador, 
Que  de  amas  las  partes  levastes  salario  !  " 

Of  the  members  of  the  legal  profession  it  would  be 
altogether  unfair  to  judge  by  the  current  scandal,  for 
every  one  knows  how  sadly  men's  sorry  wits  have 
made  havoc  with  that  devoted  and  exemplary  class, 
in  all  ages  and  countries.  It  is  singular,  too,  by  the 
way,  how  popular  such  attacks  have  always  been. 
The  traveller  who  has  visited  Rome  will  of  course 
remember  the  depository  of  the  dead  which  rises  on 
a  little  hill  beside  the  Appian  Way,  and  is  called  the 
Columbarium  of  Ilylas  and  Vitalina.  It  is  in  perfect 
preservation  or  restoration,  and  the  urns  and  vases  are 
probably  in  the  same  state  and  positions  in  which  they 
were  placed,  when  each  tenant  of  the  spot  went  to  his 
home.  Over  each  little  niche  is  the  name  of  the  pro- 
prietor, engraven  on  a  simple  slab  of  white  marble, 
with  sometimes  a  posy  or  brief  sentiment.  I  was 
struck  with  one  epitaph,  which  I  have  never  seen  al- 
luded to  in  print.     It  ran  thus  :  — 

"  C^SARIS    LUSOR. 

MuTcs  Argutus.    Imitator.    Tiberi  C^saris  Adgcsti. 
Qui  Trimum  invenit  Causidicos  imitari." 


80  SPAIN. 

As  it  was  a  professional  relic  I  copied  it.  The  fellow, 
who  would  otherwise  in  all  probability  have  had  his 
ashes  funnelled  into  a  small  and  nameless  vase,  for  a 
mere  king's  fool  as  he  was,  was  handed  down  to  immor- 
tality because  he  was  the  first  "  who  invented  imitating 
lawyers."  Peace  be  to  his  manes,  notwithstanding! 
There  have  been  greater  fools,  since  his  day,  who  have 
found  their  way  into  niches  of  their  liking,  by  turning 
into  a  text  of  popular  morality  and  profitable  denuncia- 
tion what  Mutus  Argutus  treated  as  a  joke  ! 

The  members  of  the  Spanish  bar  with  whom  I  was 
brought   into  personal  contact  were  certainly  for  the 
most  part  men  of  high  intelligence,  learning,  and  ac- 
complishments.     The    majority   of   them,    it    is   true, 
were  devoted  to  political  pursuits, —  indeed  almost  all 
the  high   political   positions   were  occupied   either   by 
lawyers  or  military  men,  —  but  the  practice  of  the  pro- 
fession is  conducted  in  a  manner  which  gives  more  of 
leisure — not  merely  for  professional  accomplishment, 
but  for  general  cultivation  and  the  pursuit  of  reputation 
in  other  walks  —  than  an  American  lawyer  can  readily 
conceive.    All  the  written  pleadings  and  their  conduct 
are  the  work  of  the  procuradores,  or  attorneys,  who 
only  trouble  counsel  for  advice,  relieving  them  from  all 
the  drudgery  and  mechanical  details  of  litigation,  and 
enabling  them  thus  to  devote  their  attention  to  those 
branches  which  are  purely  intellectual.     Among  us,  as 
is  well  known,  without  great  reputation  and  an  exceed- 
ingly elevated  position,  few  are  able  to  select  for  them- 
selves any  exclusive  walk  of  the  profession.     A  man 
is  expected  to  be  attorney,  solicitor,  proctor,  counsel, 
barrister,  and  conveyancer,  as  well  as  property-agent 


SPAIN.  81 

and  general  accountant,  too  happy  if  it  be  not  his  in- 
evitable destiny  to  edit  a  ne\vs])a|)er,  or  preside  over  a 
bank  and  a  railroad  company.  As,  in  addition  to  all 
this,  every  American,  from  the  tendency  of  his  nature 
and  of  our  "  i^eculiar  institutions,"  must  be  a  member 
of  Congress,  a  governor,  or  a  foreign  minister,  at  some 
time  of  his  life ;  and  as  lawyers,  from  the  tendency  of 
their  pursuits,  have  these  other  tendencies  in  an  aggra- 
vated degree,  it  follows  that  the  professional  "  mission  " 
has  its  best  advantages  and  triumphs  darkly  mingled 
with  painful  and  oppressive  toil,  and  all  the  evils  which 
are  sure  to  follow  such  criminal  overtasking  of  the 
body  and  the  mind.  Welcome  be  the  civilization  which 
shall  change  these  things,  —  yea,  even  if  it  come  from 
Spain  ! 


82  SPAIN. 


IX. 


The    Press.  —  Newspapers.  —  Sartorius.  —  The    Puri- 
tans —  Pacheco.  —  Party  Organs. 

The  freedom  of  the  press,  in  Spain,  is  guarantied, 
as  has  been  seen,  by  an  express  provision  of  the  con- 
stitution, which  ordains  that  it  shall  suffer  no  restric- 
tions but  those  to  be  imposed  by  law.  It  is  a  singular 
fact,  and  very  illustrative  of  constitutional  habits  in  the 
Peninsula,  that,  in  the  face  of  so  direct  and  unequivocal 
a  clause,  the  rights  of  the  citizen  and  the  powers  of  the 
government  in  1850  were  regulated,  in  the  premises, 
by  a  succession  of  decrees,  which  had  from  time  to 
time  been  promulgated  by  the  executive,  without  the 
shadow  of  legitimate  authority.  So  bold,  indeed,  was 
this  assumption  of  legislative  functions  considered  upon 
all  hands,  that  Sartorius,  Count  of  San  Luis,  then  Min- 
ister of  the  Interior,  by  way  of  concession  to  public 
opinion,  had  introduced  a  bill  into  the  Cortes,  during  the 
session  of  1848,  which  professed  to  carry  out  the  spirit 
of  the  fundamental  law.  I  did  not  see  the  projet,  but 
I  was  credibly  informed  that  it  abounded  in  excellent 
sentiments,  and  extended  unlimited  freedom  to  all  pub- 


SPAIN.  83 

lications  in  which  there  might  be  no  discussion  of  re- 
licion  or  morals,  poUtics,  manners,  or  legislation.  Bad 
or  imperfect  as  the  scheme  was  held  to  bo,  it  was, 
nevertheless,  but  a  tub  to  the  whale.  The  Minister 
spoke  well  of  it  on  all  occasions,  and  referred  to  it  as 
an  evidence  of  his  zelo  y  patriotismo,  but  was  careful 
to  give  some  good  reason  always  to  the  Progresista 
opposition  for  refusing  to  let  them  make  it  the  order 
of  the  day.  The  Cortes  were  dissolved  in  1850,  with- 
out its  having  been  submitted  to  their  action,  and  the 
members  had  hardly,  it  seems,  returned  to  their  con- 
stituents, when  an  edict  more  stringent  than  any  which 
had  gone  before  appeared  in  the  columns  of  the  official 
Gaceta.  A  still  more  arbitrary  one  has  since  followed. 
While  I  was  in  Madrid,  it  was  a  frequent  occurrence 
for  the  whole  daily  edition  of  an  opposition  paper  to  be 
seized  by  the  police,  as  it  was  upon  the  point  of  distri- 
bution,—  some  disagreeable  expressions  in  an  editorial 
article,  perhaps,  being  the  offence  alleged.  During 
Holy  Week,  when  there  were  fierce  rumors  of  dissen- 
sions at  the  palace  and  an  impending  ministerial  crisis, 
four  or  five  papers  were  "  recogidos  per  orden  de  la 
auloridad,''''  as  it  was  politely  called,  in  the  course  of  a 
single  day.  Nobody  seemed  to  think  it  at  all  remark- 
able, and  I  will  do  the  parties  who  suflered  the  justice 
to  say,  that  they  did  not  permit  it  to  diminish  the  bold- 
ness and  pertinacity  with  which  they  maintained  and 
circulated  their  opinions.  These  encroachments  on 
the  privileges  of  the  fourth  estate  were  made,  in  due 
course,  through  the  Department  of  the  Interior.  Sar- 
torius  was  the  last  man  in  Spain,  perhaps,  who  could, 
consistently,  perform  such  functions.     He  had  been  a 


84  SPAIN. 

journalist  himself  not  long  before,  and  had  gloried  in 
the  name  of  periodista.  He  owed  in  a  great  measure 
to  that  profession  his  elevation  to  the  power  which  he 
so  abused  against  it.  During  his  continuance  in  the 
ministry,  it  was  believed  that  he  still  retained  a  fond- 
ness for  his  former  calling,  and  there  was  a  rumor,  per- 
haps scandalous,  but  certainly  very  current,  that  those 
articles  of  the  Heraldo  which  were  most  gracious  to 
his  own  measures  and  his  parliamentary  displays  had 
a  striking  resemblance  to  his  well-known  style. 

Sartorius  is  certainly  a  man  of  considerable  clever- 
ness and  resource,  —  adroit,  ready,  and  not  troubled 
with  many  scruples.  In  the  Cortes,  though  he  was 
too  painfully  dressed  and  buttoned,  and  wore  gloves  too 
tight  and  yellow  for  oratorical  grace,  he  was  still  a  bold 
and  efficient  debater,  full  of  point  and  personality,  and 
generally  carrying  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country. 
The  haughty  and  magisterial  tone  which  he  assumed 
was  ill  tolerated  in  one  who  was  still  a  young  man,  and 
had  but  recently  won  his  nobility  and  station,  but  it  gave 
a  certain  force  and  weight  to  what  he  said,  and  made 
it  seeming  wise,  if  not  in  fact  so.  Being  a  party  man,  in 
the  strict  and  even  the  offensive  sense  of  the  term,  his 
hand  was  against  every  one  wha  did  not  belong  to  his 
fold  ;  and  the  consequence  was,  that  there  was  no  mem- 
ber of  the  cabinet  in  regard  to  whom  I  heard  expres- 
sions of  such  general  and  deep  ill-feeling.  This  was 
perhaps  attributable  somewhat  to  the  fact,  that  his  De- 
partment, among  the  other  internal  affairs  of  the  realm, 
was  charged  with  the  management  of  the  elections, 
and  as  the  modes  by  which  the  return  of  the  govern- 
ment candidates  was  procured  were  often  not  of  the 


SPAIN.  85 


choicest  or  most  scrupulous,  the  Minister  was  necessa- 
rily associated  with  many  things  in  the  public  mind 
which  could  not  add  to  his  dignity  or  popularity.  He 
had  a  great  hold,  however,  upon  the  confidence  of 
Narvaez,  who  no  doubt  found  him  a  useful  colleague, 
fruitful  in  expedients,  and  asking  few  questions.  To 
his  credit  be  it  said,  that,  since  the  dissolution  of  the 
Narvaez  cabinet  and  the  disfavor  of  the  Duke,  Sartorius 
has  ever  been  the  foremost  to  defend  his  patron,  and 
that,  too,  with  a  zeal  which  he  could  not  have  surpassed, 
had  the  Duke  been  still  dispenser,  as  of  old,  of  place 
and  honors.  The  gossips  of  the  Puerta  del  Sol  in- 
sisted, while  I  was  among  them,  that  the  Count  had 
grown  very  rich  from  his  political  opportunities,  and  as 
Becky  Sharp  thought  she  could  be  a  good  woman  if 
she  had  five  thousand  a  year,  perhaps  he  feels  that, 
under  the  circumstances,  he  can  afford  to  be  magnan- 
imous,—  especially  as  Spanish  ministers  in  Coventry 
are  not  like  the  '■'■vox  ■missa,''''  which  "  7iescit  reverti,'''' 
and  there  is  no  knowing  the  day  nor  the  hour  when 
the  Duke  of  Valencia  may  have  his  own  again,  —  and 
that  of  a  good  many  other  people  besides.  It  is 
hardly  fair,  however,  to  deny  to  Sartorius —  until  time 
shall  prove  it  undeserved  —  the  consideration  which  is 
due  to  that  rare  virtue  among  politicians,  —  shall  I  say 
among  men  ?  —  fidelity  to  a  fallen  and  absent  benefactor. 
The  lively  author  of  a  late  agreeable  English  work 
on  Spain  *  deals  rather  harshly,  I  think,  with  the  news- 
paper press  of  Madrid.  He  laughs,  justly  enough,  at 
the  French  arrangement,  type,  and  taste,  which  all  the 

*  Gazpacho  :  or  Summer  Months  in  Spain. 


86  SPAIN. 

journals  there  display,  even  to  the  ridiculous  extent  of 
devoting  the  bottom  of  every  sheet  to  a  "/o/Ze<m," 
usually  crammed  with  a  translation  or  a  paraphrase  of 
some  prurient  Parisian  romance.  But  it  is  hardly  fair, 
upon  the  other  hand,  to  condemn  the  Spaniards  by  the 
wholesale,  because  they  do  not  rival  the  Times  of 
London  or  the  Paris  Presse,  —  or  to  judge  of  their 
standard  of  intelligence  by  such  mistakes  as  Mr. 
Clarke  selects  from  the  letters  of  their  foreign  corre- 
spondents. If  accuracy  in  the  details  of  foreign  news 
were  the  criterion  of  newspaper  excellence,  I  am 
not  sure  that  the  English  or  French  leaders,  any  more 
than  those  of  our  own  country,  would  have  much  to 
boast  of  I  know  few  things  more  amusing,  than  to 
read  some  of  the  French  and  English  paragraphs  on 
American  politics,  unless  perhaps  it  be  to  take  up  an 
occasional  American  commentary  on  similar  matters  in 
the  Old  World. 

It  would  be  a  great  end  gained  by  the  Peace  Con- 
gresses, if  they  could  persuade  the  editorial  corps  of 
all  nations  to  learn  and  know  some  little  about  other 
countries,  before  venturing  to  disseminate  those  crude 
opinions  —  so  often  harsh  because  adopted  ignorantly  — 
which  are  the  cause  of  so  much  prejudice,  bad  blood, 
and  error.  I  do  not  really  think  that  the  Spanish 
newspapers  need  the  lesson  a  whit  more  than  their 
contemporaries  elsewhere.  Except  in  one  particular, 
which  I  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to  mention,  I 
found  their  errors  generally  more  amusing  than  serious, 
so  far  as  allusions  to  the  United  States  were  concerned. 
Those  of  us,  for  instance,  who  were  anxious  to  learn  the 
result  of  the  long  and  discreditable  balloting  for  Speaker 


SPAIN.  87 

which  occupied  tlic  House  of  Ilcprcsenlativos  in  1819, 
were  greatly  surprised  one  flay  by  the  following  an- 
nouncement in  the  Clamor  Puhlico  :  —  "  Estados  Uni- 
dos.  Se  dispiilaban  la  Fresidencia  de  la  Cdinara  de 
Diputados  MM.  VVintrop,  Whig,  Mr.  Crobbe,  radi- 
cal, y  Mr.  Scattering  del  tercer  partido.''''  This,  be- 
ing interpreted,  signifies  that  "  In  the  United  States,  the 
Presidency  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  was  in  dispute 
between  Messrs.  VVintrop,  Whig,  Mr.  Crobbo,  radical, 
and  Mr.  Scattering,  of  the  third  party  "  !  The  same 
paper  likewise  informed  us,  not  long  after,  that  there 
was  prevailing  in  California  a  frightful  degree  of  mis- 
ery,—  so  great,  indeed,  that  the  crews  of  the  American 
ships  of  war  were  deserting  daily,  "  throwing  their  offi- 
cers overboard  before  they  left  "  ! 

Penny-a-line  trifles  of  this  sort,  —  of  which  I  could 
repeat  many,  were  it  worth  the  pains,  —  the  reader  will 
concur  with  me  in  thinking,  I  am  sure,  no  conclusive 
proof  of  degeneracy  in  the  press,  especially  where,  as 
at  Madrid,  less  space  is  given  to  them  than  in  the  jour- 
nals of  any  other  country.  In  the  political  department 
of  many  of  the  Madrid  papers,  the  very  best  abilities 
of  the  nation  are  enlisted,  and  the  prominent  articles  in 
the  leading  party  organs  are  often  the  work  of  men 
whose  literature,  learning,  and  statesmanship  are  be- 
yond pcradventure.  I  had  occasion  to  know  that  the 
most  distinguished  members  of  the  Cortes  were  fre- 
quently contributors  to  the  papers  which  advocated 
their  particular  opinions,  and  with  all  allowance  for  the 
advantages  under  which  even  commonplace  may  appear 
in  their  gorgeous  language,  I  do  not,  I  am  sure,  exagger- 
ate in  saying,  that  there  were  frequent  articles  which 


88  SPAIN. 

for  eloquence,  boldness,  and  largeness  of  views  would 
have  done  honor  to  the  columns  of  any  newspaper  in 
Europe  or  America. 

When  Mr.  Mackenzie  was  in  Madrid,  in  1826,  to 
write  his  "  Year  in  Spain,"  he  found  but  two  papers, 
the  Diario  and  the  Gaceta.  The  former  was  a  daily- 
small  quarto  sheet,  which  contained,  he  says,  "  all  the 
commercial  intelligence  of  the  Spanish  capital "  ;  to 
wit,  the  names  of  the  saints  of  the  day,  with  those  of 
the  churches  where  there  would  be  masses ;  advertise- 
ments of  Bayonne  hams  and  Flanders  butter ;  with  the 
names  and  residence  of  wet-nurses  fresh  from  the 
Asturias.  The  Gaceta  was  a  tri-weekly,  and  embraced 
"  all  the  literary,  scientific,  and  poUtical  intelligence  of 
the  whole  empire."  It  was  printed  on  a  piece  of  paper 
"  somewhat  larger  than  a  sheet  of  foolscap,"  and  its 
contents  were  limited  to  an  account  of  the  health  and 
occupations  of  their  Majesties,  extracts  from  foreign 
papers  selected  and  modified  for  the  meridian,  lists 
(no  very  long  ones)  of  state  bonds  to  be  paid,  statutes 
about  tithes,  and  edicts  punishing  and  damning  free- 
masons !  The  reader  may  make  up  his  own  mind  as 
to  the  fairness  of  supposing  that  the  intelligence  and 
literature  of  the  nation  were  properly  represented  by 
the  organs  of  a  despotism,  which  treated  every  demon- 
stration of  either  as  a  crime ;  but  it  is  very  certain, 
that  Mr.  Mackenzie  has  hardly  caricatured  the  journals 
which  monopolized  the  capital  in  those  days.  It  fell 
within  the  range  of  my  duties  to  examine  the  files  of 
those  which  were  published  about  the  close  of  the  con- 
stitutional dynasty  in  1823,  when  the  leaders  of  the 
liberal  party  had  carried  king  and  Cortes  to  Seville  and 


SPAIN.  89 

Cadiz,  and  it  is  due  to  history  to  say,  that  in  regard  to 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  their  matter,  and  the  style 
of  their  typography,  it  would  be  hard  to  fall  on  an 
expression  which  would  not  be  complinnentary,  Down 
to  the  death  of  Ferdinand,  in  1833,  there  was  of  course 
no  change  possible  fur  the  better,  and  the  protracted 
and  uncertain  civil  war,  which  lasted  for  ten  years  from 
that  happy  epoch,  naturally  enough  prevented  the  em- 
barkation of  capital  in  so  novel  and  precarious  an  en- 
terprise as  journalism.  The  Heraldo,  the  oldest  of  the 
present  political  papers,  was  not  established  until  1842, 
and  it  will,  I  think,  be  justly  deemed  an  evidence  of  no 
small  progress  in  the  nation,  that,  in  February,  1850, 
there  were  thirteen  daily  papers  in  circulation  in  Ma- 
drid, the  most  of  them  receiving  such  encouragement 
as  justified  their  continuance.  Their  daily  issue,  in  all, 
was  about  thirty-five  thousand  copies,  according  to  an 
estimate  which  went  the  rounds  during  my  visit ;  and 
when  it  is  considered  that  Madrid  is,  as  has  been  seen, 
entirely  without  commerce,  and  that  the  advertising 
support,  and  the  subscriptions  consequent  thereon,  must 
necessarily  be  very  limited,  the  state  of  things  cannot 
be  regarded  as  other  than  extremely  satisfactory  and 
promising.  The  rate  of  subscription  to  the  most  ex- 
pensive sheets  is  very  moderate,  in  view  of  their  al- 
most exclusive  dependence  upon  it.  Twelve  reals,  or 
sixty  cents,  per  month,  is  the  maximum,  and  there  is 
no  interruption  of  the  issue  on  Sundays.  The  non- 
subscribing  public  are  tempted  in  the  Plaza  Mayor, 
the  Puerta  del  Sol,  and  all  other  places  of  resort,  by 
news-venders  as  noisy  as  could  be  desired,  tliough  per- 
haps not  as  industrious.      Their  long  and    marvellous 


90  SPAIN. 

Stories  of  the  wonders  they  are  selling  awaken  strange 
echoes  in  places  where,  so  short  a  while  ago,  it  was  a 
sin  to  think  without  permission,  and  printing  without 
the  censorship  was  held  to  be  in  some  sort  a  machina- 
tion of  the  Devil. 

The  ministerial  organ  in  1850  was  the  Heraldo. 
It  was  edited  by  Seiior  Mora,  the  son  of  a  distinguished 
writer,  then  a  member  of  the  Cortes  from  one  of  the 
Alicante  districts,  and  an  under  secretary,  besides,  in 
the  Department  of  the  Interior.  He  was  believed  to 
be  the  author  of  the  principal  articles,  but  it  was  gen- 
erally understood  that  they  breathed  the  inspiration 
and  often  knew  the  hand  of  his  chief.  Being  the 
mouthpiece  of  the  government,  the  Heraldo  could  not 
of  course  be  expected  to  do  otherwise  than  approve 
and  defend  its  measures  ;  but  although  this  was  often 
done  with  plausibility  and  force,  the  general  tone  of 
the  editorials  was  so  intensely  and  enthusiastically  lau- 
datory, as  to  destroy,  in  a  great  degree,  the  effect  that 
otherwise  they  might  have  had  on  the  opinion  of  the 
nation.  I  do  not  remember  to  have  read  any  thing  more 
nauseously  servile  than  some  of  them.  The  principles 
which  they  invoked  and  enforced  were  of  the  most 
retrograde  and  illiberal  character,  tending  studiously 
always,  under  the  cover  of  monarchical  reverence, 
towards  the  establishment  of  a  ministerial  despotism, 
at  the  expense  of  the  crown's  security  and  dignity,  and 
the  constitutional  rights  of  the  people.  It  was  really 
curious  to  see  how  the  organ  of  an  administration  — 
every  member  of  which  had  sprung  immediately  and 
recently  from  the  people,  and  every  guaranty  of  whose 
ministerial  power  and  independence  had  been  hard  won 


SPAIN.  91 

by  popular  sufli'ring  and  perseverance — conlil,  r>vcr 
and  over,  every  day,  devote  itself  to  the  most  unlimited 
denunciation  of  popular  doctrines,  and  the  most  fanat- 
ical advocacy  of  the  sacred  rights  of  prescription.  It 
was  curious,  I  say,  but  not  astonishing ;  for  I  had  just 
come  from  France,  where  the  president  of  a  republic 
which  had* sprung  from  the  blood  of  a  revolution  had 
newspapers  in  pay  to  denounce  revolutions,  and  him- 
self rode  out  among  his  fellow-citizens  protected  by 
an  escort  such  as  even  Louis  Philippe  —  so  often  shot 
at  —  had  never  supposed  himself  to  need.  So  true  it 
is,  that  every  man  in  power  is  a  conservative,  and  that 
he  whose  interest  it  is  to  keep  is  the  natural  and  ne- 
cessary enemy  of  him  whose  effort  is  to  take  ! 

The  Epoca,  an  afternoon  paper,  in  the  interests  of 
the  government,  was  hardly  more  than  an  echo  of  the 
Heraldo''s  morning  jubilations. 

The  chief  opponents  of  the  administration  —  as  in- 
deed of  the  whole  Moderado  system  and  dynasty  — 
were  the  Progresista  organs,  the  Clamor  Publico  and 
the  Nacion, —  the  former  perhaps  the  more  orthodox ; 
the  latter  representing  more  especially  the  peculiar 
opinions  of  those  members  of  the  Cortes  who  were 
called  Progresistas  Modcrados,  or  moderate  Progre- 
sistas.  I  saw  the  Clamor  more  frequently,  and  read  it 
more  carefully,  than  any  other  of  the  opposition  prints. 
Its  reputed  conductors  were  Galvez  Canero,  a  deputy 
from  one  of  the  Malaga  districts,  and  Corradia,  who  had 
considerable  repute  as  a  writer.  The  more  authorita- 
tive articles  were  believed  to  be  the  work  of  the  former, 
but  the  leaders  generally  were  extremely  creditable, 
not  only  in  style  and  taste,  but  for  their  boldness,  infer- 


92  SPAIN. 

mation,  and  manly  good  sense.  The  Moderados  pro- 
fessed, as  well  as  their  opponents,  a  desire  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  constitutional  monarchy,  but  they  re- 
garded it  always  from  the  monarchical  or  conservative, 
as  opposed  to  the  constitutional  or  progressive,  point  of 
view.  The  Clamor,  on  the  contrary,  without  falling 
into  the  subversive  doctrines  of  the  radical  party,  was 
the  steady  advocate  of  the  constitutional  side  of  the 
question,  and  inculcated  the  rigid  enforcement  of  con- 
stitutional restrictions  and  responsibilities,  and  the  de- 
velopment, in  a  constitutional  way,  of  the  more  popular 
elements  of  the  state.  Its  tone  was  invariably  respect- 
ful to  the  person  and  legitimate  prerogatives  of  roy- 
alty, and  courteous  towards  the  individuals  in  power, 
but  its  spirit  was  perfectly  independent  under  all  cir- 
cumstances, and  nothing  that  it  was  proper  to  say  ever 
lost  force  in  its  columns  for  want  of  being  said  both 
fearlessly  and  plainly.  When,  as  would  sometimes 
happen,  an  unguarded  paragraph  would  cause  the  sup- 
pression of  the  morning's  edition,  the  publishers  would 
set  themselves  to  work  to  get  out  another  forthwith,  and 
the  subscribers  would  find  on  their  tables,  only  a  few 
hours  later,  the  usual  supply  of  good  doctrine,  made  a 
little  more  piquant,  perhaps,  by  an  allusion  to  the 
"  law's  delay,"  which  would  probably  occupy,  in  prom- 
inent type,  the  place  of  the  confiscated  article.  Thus 
the  government  rarely  gained  any  thing  by  its  usurpa- 
tions but  the  opportunity  of  uselessly  asserting  its 
power,  losing  ten  times  as  much,  of  course,  from  the 
moral  effect  of  opposition  so  indomitable  and  suc- 
cessful. 

The  Patria,  of  which  the   author  of  "  Gazpacho  " 


SPAIN.  98 

speaks  most  favorably,  was  an  opposition  print,  which 
was  started  by  some  members  of  the  rurilano  or  puri- 
tan party.  These  gentlemen,  it  will  be  readily  imag- 
ined, did  not  take  their  party  name  from  any  religious 
notions,  such  as  the  word  suggests  to  us.  They  origi- 
nally belonged  to  the  Moderado  division,  but,  finding 
that  their  associates  were  fast  becoming  absolutists  in 
principle,  and  did  little  practically  except  to  keep  them- 
selves in  place,  —  finding  too,  perhaps,  that  those  asso- 
ciates were  in  power,  and  they  themselves  were  un- 
likely to  attain  it,  except  upon  a  ditrercnt  basis,  —  they 
"  pronounced  "  for  a  return  to  the  older  and  genuine 
Moderado  doctrine  of  constitutional  conservatism.  This 
assumption  of  an  especial  purity  of  doctrine  gave  them 
their  title. 

The  Puritanos  have  some  eminent  persons  among 
them,  and  their  leader,  Sr.  Pacheco,  is  one  of  the  first 
men  in  Spain.  I  have  referred  to  him  as  the  counsel 
of  Diaz  Martinez,  and  recur  to  him  in  this  place  be- 
cause he  was  in  private  life  when  I  was  in  Madrid,  and 
his  name  will  hardly  arise  in  any  but  the  present  con- 
nection. He  was  in  power  in  1847  for  a  short  time 
during  my  first  visit  to  the  Peninsula,  but  his  adminis- 
tration, though  from  many  causes  practically  a  failure, 
has  not  diminished  his  reputation  as  a  man  of  integrity 
and  thought.  A  distinguished  foreign  diplomatist  — 
whose  opportunities  of  knowledge  had  been  ample,  and 
whose  ability  to  judge  would  be  immediately  conceded, 
were  I  to  name  him  —  informed  me  that  he  considered 
many  of  Pacheco's  despatches,  which  had  passed  spe- 
cially under  his  obser\'ation,  as  equal  to  the  best  of  M. 
Guizot's.     In  his  profession  of  the  law,  Sr.  Pacheco 


94  SPAIN. 

stands  with  but  few  rivals  in  Madrid.  He  has  published 
several  works  upon  subjects  connected  with  it,  which 
are  of  acknowledged  authority.  In  politer  letters  he  is 
also  distinguished,  —  being  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Academy,  and  a  poet  of  vigor,  tendei'ness,  and  great 
purity  and  accuracy  of  versification.  His  prose  style  is 
grave  and  stately,  like  his  elocution,  which  is  very  im- 
pressive. He  had  published  a  portion  of  a  History  of 
the  Regency  of  Maria  Cristina  (the  present  Queen 
Mother),  which  was  regarded  as  a  work  of  great  im- 
partiality and  merit ;  but  his  principal  reputation  as  a 
prose-writer  grew  out  of  his  written  discourses  and  his 
contributions  to  the  periodical  press.  His  inaugural 
address,  upon  his  introduction  to  the  Academy,  was  on 
the  subject  of  journalism,  and  a  good  many  years  of  his 
life  were  devoted  in  some  degree  to  that  profession. 
It  was  thus  that  he  became  concerned  with  the  Patria, 
in  conjunction  with  Benavides,  a  member  of  the  Cortes, 
of  whom  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter.  Pa- 
checo,  however,  had  retired  from  his  connection  with 
the  paper  before  I  reached  Madrid,  and,  as  I  have  said, 
was  pursuing  his  avocations  as  a  private  citizen  when  I 
had  the  good  fortune  to  be  admitted  to  the  circle  which 
his  many  accomplishments  rendered  so  attractive.  He 
proposed  being  a  candidate  for  Ecija,  his  native  town, 
in  Andalusia,  at  the  election  for  Cortes  which  succeeded 
my  departure.  Whether  he  undertook  the  canvass,  I 
have  no  means  of  knowing  ;  but  I  regard  it  as  a  misfor- 
tune to  the  nation  that  he  was  not  on  the  list  of  those 
who  were  returned.  After  the  dissolution  which  fol- 
lowed the  downfall  of  Narvaez  in  1851,  he  was  a  suc- 
cessful candidate,  and  is  now  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies. 


SPAIN.  95 

It  would  be  lianlly  worth  while  to  tnice,  tlirough  the 
dillercnt  periodicals  which  represented  them,  the  varie- 
ties of  political  opinion  which   circumstances  and  the 
ambition  of  individuals  and  cliques  had  made  so  numer- 
ous in  Madrid.    The  Modcrado  opposition,  who  were  in 
opposition  because  they  were  out  of  place  and  wanted 
to  get  in,  by  making  themselves  worth  bidding  for,  had 
administered  de  honis  non  on  the  political  estate  of  the 
defunct  Puritano  influence,  and  had  thus  obtained  pos- 
session of  the  Palria.     The  Marquis  of  Pidal,  who  was 
Minister  of  State,  had  his  personal  views  and  those  of 
his  brother-in-law,  the  noted  finance  minister,  Sr.  Mon, 
put  forth  in  the  Pais.     The  Epoca  was  another  Mode- 
rado  press,  under  the  sway  of  Sr.  Olivan,  a  deputy  of 
many  hopes.     Queen  Cristina,  too,  kept  herself  before 
the  public,  with  her  usual  adroitness,  in  the  pensioned 
columns  of  the  Espaiia.     The  Pueblo  was  democratic 
and  rampant,  though  edited  by  a  Marquis.     The  Espe- 
ranza,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  echo  of  the  liigh  to- 
nes, and  the  organ  of  Carlism  and  every  thing  else  re- 
actionary.   That  the  Carlist  organ  had  one  of  the  largest 
subscription   lists,  would  have  been  startling  and  sig- 
nificant under  other  circumstances.     But  the  Esperan- 
za''s  impunity  was  no  doubt  principally  due  to  the  fact, 
that  the  throne  had  but  little  to  fear  from  that  quarter, 
and  the  rulers  of  the  day  were  very  willing  to  hear  con- 
servatism preached,  when  Carlism  bore  the  burden  of 
its  obnoxiousness,  and  the  Moderados  reaped  the  ben- 
efit. 


96  SPAIN. 


X. 


Cuba  and  the  United  States.  — The  Ckonica  News- 
paper.—Parties  IN  Cuba. —  Public  Sentiment  there. 
—  Abuses  and  their  Kemedt.— Annexation. 

I  HAVE  said  that,  in  one  particular,  the  comments  of 
the  Madrid  press  upon  American  affairs  were  not  di- 
rected always  by  the  best  informed  or  kindest  spirit. 
In  this  I  had  reference  to  the  Cuba  question, — the  pro- 
posed annexation  of  that  island,  and  the  piratical  enter- 
prises in  contemplation  against  it,  —  one  of  which,  but 
a  short  time  previously,  had  been  frustrated  by  the  vigi- 
lant good  faith  of  General  Taylor's  administration.  Al- 
though I  had  full  occasion  to  experience,  in  the  facilities 
afforded  me  for  the  discharge  of  my  own  duties,  the 
cordiality  with  which  the  course  of  the  President  and 
his  cabinet  had  inspired  the  Spanish  government,  it  was 
impossible  not  to  see  that  there  were  circumstances 
surrounding  the  question,  which  of  necessity  created, 
in  both  ministers  and  people,  an  uneasiness,  and  indeed 
distrust,  as  to  the  future.  The  obligation  of  nations  to 
observe  their  treaties  incontestably  and  obviously  in- 
volves the  duty  of  enacting  laws  which  shall  compel  that 


SPAIN.  97 

observance,  to  the  lefter,  on  the  part  of  their  own  citi- 
zens. When,  therefore,  a  people  who  are  peremptory 
in  exacting  tlie  strictest  performance  of  treaty  stipula- 
tions from  otliers,  set  up  the  nature  of  their  own  institu- 
tions as  a  reason  for  their  inability  to  keep  as  strictly 
the  faith  which  tliey  have  as  positively  pledged,  they 
have  no  riglit  to  marvel  if  their  honesty  be  brought  in 
question.  Nations  treat  as  equals.  In  their  internal 
government,  they  may  be  what  they  please, —  in  their 
external  aspect  they  are  nations  merely,  with  all  the 
faculties  and  duties  of  such.  Sovereignty  which  is  re- 
sponsible enough  to  contract  and  thereby  obtain  benefits, 
cannot  be  allowed  to  disclaim  responsibility  in  the  mat- 
ter of  keeping  promises.  It  may  be  strong  enough  to 
disregard  the  consequences  of  so  doing, —  bold  enough 
to  challenge  them,  —  but  it  must  submit  to  be  called 
unprincipled,  or  at  all  events  to  be  considered  so.  If  a 
nation's  institutions  unfit  it  for  keeping  treaties,  it  ought 
not  to  make  them.  It  either  has  a  government,  or  it  has 
not.  If  it  has  not,  it  ought  not  to  make  pretence  that  it 
has  ;  if  it  has,  that  government  should  govern.  The 
logic  of  the  matter  is  as  clear  as  its  honesty  ;  and  false 
pretences  are  as  criminal  under  the  public  law  as  under 
the  municipal. 

It  must  be  confessed,  that,  in  reference  to  the  Cuba 
question,  appearances  were  not  very  favorable  to  our 
national  fair-dealing.  That  in  a  civilized  countr}-,  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  it  should  have  been  seriously  pro- 
posed, and  openly,  as  a  scheme  of  public  policy,  to  ac- 
quire, by  actual  or  moral  force,  the  territory  of  a  friendly 
nation,  —  believed  to  be  a  weak  one, —  for  no  other 
reason  and  with  no  other  pretext  than,  simply,  that  the 
7 


98  SPAIN. 

party  proposing  to  take  thought  proper  to  covet,  —  was 
quite  enough  to  startle  those  plain  people,  all  the  world 
over,  who  had  been  taught  to  consider  good  faith  as 
sacred,  and  rapine  a  crime.     But  when  such  a  scheme 
was  advocated,  boldly  and  constantly,  in  the  public  jour- 
nals of  the  aggressive  nation,  without  provoking  a  uni- 
versal,  nay,  even  a  general  expression  of  indignation 
and  shame,  —  when,  in  the  ports  of  that  nation,  expedi- 
tions were  set  on  foot  and  men  and   munitions  of  war 
were  got  together  for  the  purpose  of  invading  the  cov- 
eted territory,  and  either  seizing  it,  or  revolutionizing 
its  population,  with  a  view  to  its  ultimate  acquisition, — 
it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  that  the  civilized   world 
should   have   poured    forth   unanimous   denunciations. 
The  people  of  the  outraged  nation  had  certainly  a  rea- 
sonable apology,  if  they  forgot  the  soft  words  and  the 
forbearance  which  became  them  as   Christians.     The 
Spaniards  have  a  national  endowment  of  fortitude,  which 
is  remarkable.     San  Lorenzo,  whose  gridiron  is  immor- 
talized  in  the  Escorial,  is  said  to  have  suggested,  when 
they  were  broiling  him,  that  they  had  better  turn  him  on 
the  other  side,  as  that  nearest  the  coals  was,  he  thought, 
sufficiently  cooked.      His  descendants,  upon  the  pres- 
ent occasion,  behaved  as  well  as  it  was  reasonable  to 
anticipate  from  even  such  an  example.     But  there  are 
limits  even  to  the  spirit  of  martyrdom,  and  it  is  not  in 
human  nature  that  men  should  be  altogether  patient  and 
philosophical,  when  they  whness  a  systematic  and  de- 
liberate organization  for  the   robbery   and   murder  of 
their  brethren.     Nor  is  their  equanimity  at  all  likely  to 
be  increased,  by  the  fact  that  national  insult  is  added  to 
private  injury,  and  that  men  who  are  carrying  out,  and 


SPAIN.  99 

presses  wliich  arc  glorifying,  the  principles  and  prac- 
tices of  the  Norse  freebooters,  should  be  thanking  (Jod 
they  are  free  and  enlightened,  and  not  like  the  "  igno- 
rant, uncivilized  race  "  which  they  are  about  to  plunder 
and  slay. 

While,  then,  it  was  generally  conceded  in  Madrid, 
that  the  United  States  executive  government  had  done 
its  best,  in  view  of  its  limited  powers,  it  was  equally 
clear  that  those  powers  were  more  than  necessarily 
circumscribed,  —  at  all  events  practically,  —  and  there 
was  enough  in  the  demonstrations  of  the  American 
press,  —  enough,  with  shame  and  sorrow  be  it  said,  in 
occasional  expressions  which  disgraced  the  American 
Congress,  —  to  satisfy  the  Spaniards  that  there  was 
danger  before  them  from  the  possible  action  of  our  peo- 
ple and  the  weakness  and  imperfection  of  our  laws. 
Their  ideas  were,  besides,  affected  further  by  their 
own  notions  and  habits  of  government.  Accustomed  to 
the  surveillance,  and  the  rapid,  secret,  and  unscrupu- 
lous action  of  a  detective  police,  they  could  not  com- 
prehend the  tardy  and  imperfect  operation  of  that  popu- 
lar, free  system,  which  leaves  so  much  undiscovered 
and  unpunished,  lest  any  should,  perchance,  be  unduly 
suspected  or  oppressed.  They  could  not  understand 
how  a  warlike  expedition  could  be  set  on  foot,  in  any 
country,  without  its  being  known,  immediately,  to  the 
government,  and  it  was  inconceivable  to  them  that  a 
suspected  person  could  be  left  at  large,  without  conniv- 
ance on  the  part  of  some  of  the  authorities.  They  felt 
and  knew  that  their  own  government  had  the  means  of 
preventing  the  preparation  for  such  outrages  in  its  ports, 
and  that  its  powers  would  be  exercised,  immediately 


100  SPAIN. 

and  effectually,  to  suppress  and  punish.  They  had 
some  difficulty,  therefore,  in  being  persuaded  that  they 
had  not  a  right  to  expect  what  they  felt  themselves 
bound  and  were  always  ready  to  render,  and  what  the 
United  States,  upon  at  least  one  memorable  occasion, 
had  exacted  from  them  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

There  was  another  cause  of  irritation  and  anxiety, 
which,  though  unfortunate,  was  natural.  Very  few 
American  newspapers  reach  the  Peninsula,  and  the  in- 
formation as  to  American  affairs  which  is  derived  from 
the  European  journals  is  generally  meagre  and  partial. 
The  principal  details  which  were  received  and  repro- 
duced by  the  Madrid  press  were  furnished  by  the  Cro- 
nica,  a  newspaper  published  at  New  York,  in  the  Spanish 
language,  and  commonly  asserted,  in  Madrid,  to  be  sup- 
ported by  the  Cuban  government.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible for  any  thing  to  be  more  elaborately  and  syste- 
matically unjust,  than  the  mass  of  that  paper's  editorial 
observations  upon  the  character  and  sentiments  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  —  an  injustice  which  it  is 
difficult  not  to  pronounce  wilful,  in  view  of  the  general 
intelligence  which  pervades  the  journal,  and  precludes 
the  imputation  of  ignorance.  At  the  time  referred  to, 
the  good  faith  of  the  American  government  was  con- 
stantly impeached  in  the  Cronica,  and  the  integrity  and 
sincerity  of  the  Cabinet  officers  were  systematically  as- 
sailed. The  wholesome  and  honest  public  feeling  and 
opinion  which  pervaded  so  large  a  portion  of  the  Amer- 
ican community  and  found  such  frequent  utterance  in 
the  columns  of  its  influential  journals,  were  studiously 
ignored,  or  broadly  denied  to  exist.  It  seemed,  in  fine, 
the  whole,  unscrupulous  effort  of  the  paper  to  create 


SPAIN.  101 

and  strenf^then  the  impression  that  our  government  was 
without  faith,  or  power  for  good,  and  our  people  desti- 
tute alii<e  of  truth  and  honesty.  The  tenor  of  my  own 
views,  as  already  expressed,  will,  1  think,  be  some  guar- 
anty to  the  reader,  that  I  have  no  sympathy  —  not  the 
most  remote  —  with  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrages  in 
question,  nor  any  national  super-sensibility,  which  would 
lead  me  into  an  overstatement  of  the  misrepresenta- 
tions to  which  I  am  referring. 

Facts  and  circumstances,  such  as  the  Cronira,  in  the 
spirit  I  have  spoken  of,  took  pains  to  promulgate,  were 
published  for  truth,  as  the  testimony  of  eyewitnesses, 
in  the  newspapers  of  Madrid.  "Se  lee  en  un  periodica 
de  Nueva  York,''''  they  would  say,  — "  We  read  in  a 
New  York  paper  the  following,"  &:c.,&c. ;  and  the  pub- 
lic, not  familiar  with  the  mysteries  of  journalism,  took 
for  granted  that  the  "  thrilling  narratives  "  with  which 
thev  were  regaled  were  the  concurrent  testimonials 
of  the  indigenous  press  of  New  York,  and  thought  it 
astonishing  that  the  pueblo  Norte- Americano  should  not 
only  be  so  full  of  villany,  but  so  barefaced  in  pleading 
guilty  to  it.  It  is  but  proper  to  admit  that  the  commen- 
taries of  the  Madrid  papers  were  extremely  moderate, 
in  view  of  the  facts  which  they  believed  to  be  thus  in 
their  possession.  A  supposed  determination  on  the  part 
of  England  to  annex  California  would,  I  am  sure,  con- 
dense more  hard  names  and  indignant  eloquence  into  the 
editorials  of  any  one  of  our  village  newspapers,  than  the 
whole  Madrid  press  gave  vent  to,  under  similar  circum- 
stances. But  it  will,  nevertheless,  be  readily  imagined, 
that  such  things  could  not  fail  to  awaken  suspicion  and 
apprehension,  even  in  those   who  did  not  credit  them 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CA-LIFORNI/,- 

S/VT.A    T5ARPARA 


102  SPAIN. 

altogether,  and  that,  most  naturally,  there  existed  much 
question  of  our  motives  and  action,  even  among  those 
whose  political  principles  led  them  to  admire  our  institu- 
tions, and  take  pleasure  in  our  prosperity  and  greatness. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  they  had  in  fact  much  solid  rea- 
son to  think  ill  of  us,  and  plausible  grounds  for  doing  so 
even  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  we  really  deserved. 

I  had  fortunate  opportunities  of  meeting  in  Madrid 
with  many  gentlemen  from  Cuba,  of  intelligence  and 
influence,  and  of  all  shades  of  political  opinion.  The 
unreserved  expression  of  their  views,  and  the  details  of 
fact  with  which  many  of  them  favored  me,  enabled  me 
to  form  perhaps  as  accurate  an  idea  of  the  politics  of 
the  island,  as  even  a  visit  there  would  ordinarily  afford 
a  stranger.  Parties,  I  was  told,  were,  in  the  main,  but 
three.  Among  them,  the  uncompromising  friends  of 
the  existing  state  of  things  occupied  the  first  place  in 
political  power  and  ostensible  influence.  To  this  class 
belonged,  of  course,  all  the  government  officials,  with 
their  friends  and  dependents,  —  all  the  military  men, — 
many  of  the  wealthier  Creoles  and  the  numerous  resi- 
dent Spaniards,  engaged  in  private  pursuits.  These 
last  are  principally  Catalans  or  Basques, —  mostly  the 
former,  —  with  the  courage  and  energy  characteristic 
of  their  respective  provinces.  Considering  themselves 
still  as  citizens  of  the  Peninsula,  and  looking  forward 
to  an  old  age  of  competence,  at  home,  from  the  fruits 
of  their  temporary  exile,  they  naturally  incline  towards 
maintaining  the  predominance  of  the  mother  country 
against  the  immunities  which  the  Cubans,  as  naturally, 
covet.  They  are  most  of  them  wealthy ;  almost  all 
in  promising  or  prosperous  business.     If  taxes  are  high, 


SPAIN.  103 

they  thrive  notwitlistanding.  If  government  is  arbitraiy 
and  exacting,  it  still  leaves  them  the  moans  of  gftting 
rich  and  escaping  in  comfort.  Tiicir  acquisitions  and 
prospects,  therefore,  are  things  far  too  serious  and  sul)- 
stantial  to  be  put  upon  the  hazard  of  any  revohition, 
and  they  consequently  form  a  conservative  j)halanx, 
which  it  will  be  found  extremely  difficult  at  any  time  to 
break.  They  will  be  ready,  in  any  crisis,  to  place  at 
the  disposal  of  the  government  a  large  portion  of  their 
wealth,  for  the  preservation  of  the  rest,  and  they  them- 
selves will  form  no  trifling  accession  to  the  military 
strength  of  the  island,  —  the  civil  broils  of  latter  years 
in  Spain  having  unfortunately  left  few  from  the  north- 
ern provinces  unaccustomed  to  bearing  arms,  or  igno- 
rant of  military  discipline. 

The  extreme  party  on  the  other  side  —  that  alone  to 
which  immediate  or  forcible  annexation  would  be  toler- 
able —  is,  I  was  told,  and  as  subsequent  events  have 
shown,  quite  insignificant  in  influence,  character,  extent, 
and  true  patriotism.  It  of  course  embraces,  as  all  parties 
of  extreme  opinion  do,  some  few  sincere  enthusiasts ; 
but  its  principal  recruits  are  from  the  ranks  of  those 
who  have  nothing  to  lose,  and  those  who,  having  fallen 
under  the  ban  of  the  government,  have  fortunes  to  re- 
deem or  injuries  to  revenge.  Its  members  are  chiefly 
Creoles,  or  strangers  who  have  no  other  livelihood  than 
opening  mine  Ancient  PistoPs  oyster.  In  a  country 
with  diflferent  political  and  social  habits  and  organization, 
the  many  grievances  which  really  irritate  and  seriously 
oppress  would  render  desperate  adventurers  like  these 
a  possible  nucleus  of  dangerous  agitation.  But  politi- 
cal abstractions  melt  away  under  that  burning  sun,  and 


104 


SPAIN. 


the  population  is  neither  large  nor  concentrated  enough, 
nor  sufficiently  accustomed  to  political  discussion,  to  be 
easily  moved  by  the  ordinary  appeals  which  have  so 
much  force  in  popular  govei'nments  and  colder  climates. 
The  Cubans,  besides,  ai'e  of  too  lax  a  fibre,  and  too 
fond  of  pleasure,  for  any  of  those  doings  with  which 
"  fierce  democraties  "  are  wont  to  thunderstrike  old  sys- 
tems. Pine-apples  and  cigars,  —  the  opera,  the  paseo, 
and  the  sea-breeze,  —  are  far  pleasanter  things,  even 
under  a  Captain-General,  than  the  dust  and  blood  (be- 
sides the  trouble)  of  a  doubtful  revolution.  The  ener- 
vating influences  which  have  made  the  stalwart  language 
of  Castile  a  lisping  bastard  on  the  Creole's  lips,  have 
emasculated  his  character  also,  and  destroyed  within 
him  the  virile  independence  and  proud  fortitude  which 
centuries  of  oppression  have  not  taken  from  the  old 
Castilian  heart.  The  spirit  of  the  radical  party,  there- 
fore, is  of  as  little  practical  consideration  as  its  numbers. 
The  third  division  —  if  parties  and  principles  have 
any  thing  reasonable  in  them  —  should  be,  and  I  was 
told  it  was,  by  far  the  most  numerous,  as  it  is  certainly 
the  most  patriotic  of  the  three.  It  is  composed,  main- 
ly, of  the  Cubans  themselves,  but  embraces  the  best 
elements  of  intelligence,  enterprise,  and  virtue  to  be 
found  among  them.  Its  members  have  simply  in  view 
the  interests  of  the  island  and  its  inhabitants.  They 
are  wedded  to  no  particular  scheme  or  system,  and  are 
willing  to  support  any  which  will  secure  to  them  a  ra- 
tional freedom,  and  an  exemption  from  oppressive  and 
unjust  burdens.  They  have  no  preference  for  inde- 
pendence, except  as  a  means  of  securing  these  benefits, 
and  regarding  it,  under  the  circumstances,  as  a  perilous, 


SPAIN.  105 

and  most  doubtful  experiment,  they  are  many  of  them 
anxious,  and  almost  all  of  them  content,  to  continue 
the  colonial  rekitiun.  Other  things  being  equal,  or,  in- 
deed, approximating  equality,  —  it  would  never  occur  to 
them  to  imagine  a  transfer  of  their  dependence  from  the 
mother  country  to  the  United  States.  All  their  national 
peculiarities — the  sympathy  of  race,  a  common  lan- 
guage, historical  associations,  family  ties,  and  national 
customs  and  tastes  —  incline  them  irresistibly  towards 
the  land  of  their  origin.  The  Spaniards  are  not  of  a 
blood  that  readily  amalgamates,  and  least  of  all  with 
the  Saxon  or  any  mixture  of  it.  But  the  predilection 
of  the  intelligent  Cubans  for  the  Spanish  connection, 
though  a  strong  one,  is,  nevertheless,  not  blind.  They 
complain  of  bad  government,  and  are  earnest  in  insisting, 
so  far  as  they  lawfully  may,  upon  having  their  grievan- 
ces redressed.  This  is  not  the  place  to  inquire  how  far 
their  complaints  are  well  founded.  That  the  evils  which 
produce  them  have  been  greatly  overstated,  both  as  to 
number  and  aggravation,  I  have  no  doubt.  This  has 
been  particularly  the  case  in  the  many  absurd  publi- 
cations which  have  been  made  in  the  United  States, 
with  a  view  to  stimulate  and  keep  up  the  annexation 
and  invasion  excitements,  and  which  have  misled  so 
many  to  suffering  and  death.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  only  just  to  say,  that,  among  the  many  intelligent 
Cubans  I  have  met,  I  do  not  remember  one  —  no  mat- 
ter what  may  have  been  his  politics  —  who  has  not 
spoken,  in  strong  language,  of  grievous  abuses  as  ex- 
isting. Such  unanimity  cannot  certainly  be  without 
cause.  That  the  government  of  the  island  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  a  military  despotism,  all  the  world 


106  SPAIN. 

knows.  Its  responsible  and  lucrative  offices  are,  al- 
most exclusively,  in  the  hands  of  empleados  from 
the  mother  country,  w^here,  indeed,  Cuba  is  held,  as 
Mistress  Page  was  by  her  enamored  knight,  to  be 
"  all  gold  and  bounty."  Politicians  who  have  rendered 
services  which  the  coffers  of  the  Peninsula  are  too 
empty  to  compensate  conveniently,  and  aspirants  to 
place  at  home  who  are  needy  and  dangerous,  are  re- 
warded habitually,  or  propitiated,  as  the  case  may  be, 
by  a  chance  of  picking  the  colony.  The  administra- 
tion of  justice  is  admitted,  on  all  hands,  to  be  tardy, 
costly,  and  corrupt.  Nowhere,  I  was  told,  does  the 
escribano  system,  with  all  its  consequences,  — "  insani 
prsemia  scribse,"  —  flourish  half  so  gloriously.  Taxa- 
tion, if  not  so  exorbitant  as  is  sometimes  pretended, 
is  unquestionably  unequal  and  needlessly  oppressive. 
The  restraints  on  commerce,  and  the  subserviency  of 
its  regulations  to  Peninsular  interests,  contribute  to 
render  that  oppressiveness  still  more  unwelcome, — 
while  the  fact,  that  all  the  impositions  which  weigh  so 
heavily  upon  the  colonists  go  to  the  support  of  an 
administration  of  strangers,  or  the  maintenance  of  a 
government  across  the  ocean,  suffices,  of  itself,  to 
throw  on  the  colonial  relation  a  certain  shade  of  inevi- 
table odium. 

It  is  rvot  to  be  concealed,  that  the  pressure  of  these 
things  is  made  more  galling,  even  to  the  most  loyal  of 
the  Cubans,  by  the  proximity  of  this  republic.  They 
cannot  avoid  feeling  that  the  palpable  contrast  between 
our  relative  prosperity  and  progress  and  theirs  is  main- 
ly attributable  to  the  difference  in  political  institutions 
and  their  administration.     Every  unsuccessful  applica- 


SPAIN.  107 

tion  to  the  home  govcrnmont  for  mpasuros  of  redress 
of  course  heightens  the  cfFcet  of  that  contrast,  and  pro- 
portionally inclines  them  to  turn  from  a  system  which 
perpetuates  misrule,  to  one  which  furnishes  such  prac- 
tical demonstration  of  its  efficiency  for  good.  If,  there- 
fore, all  the  freebooters  who  disgrace  our  shores  were 
driven  from  them,  —  if  the  few  shameless  presses  were 
silenced  which  proclaim  as  honorable  and  patriotic 
the  breach  of  our  treaty  faith  and  the  total  abandon- 
ment of  national  honor,  —  the  Cuban  government  itself 
alone  might  give  efficiency,  and  weight,  and  final  suc- 
cess to  the  project  of  annexation.  A  very  interesting 
pamphlet,  presenting  this  view  of  the  subject,  was  pub- 
lished in  Madrid  while  I  was  there,  by  Don  Jose  Anto- 
nio Saco,  a  distinguished  Cuban,  who,  although  an  anti- 
anncxationist,  was  then  reaping  in  banishment,  at  Calais, 
the  reward  of  his  honest  but  too  candid  zeal.  The  liberal 
newspapers  adopted  and  advocated  his  ideas,  with  a 
great  deal  of  freedom  and  force,  while  the  government 
organs,  of  course,  denounced  them  as  treasonable  and 
absurd.  The  columns  of  the  latter  journals  were  filled, 
meanwhile,  with  letters  from  Havana,  which  gave  mag- 
nificent accounts  of  public  displays,  operatic ^es/as,  and 
balls  and  banquets  enthusiastically  attended,  at  the  pal- 
ace of  the  Captain-General, — all  obviously  got  up  as 
proof  conclusive  of  the  splendor,  happiness,  and  plenty 
which  flourish  under  the  existing  system.  For  men 
mad'enough  to  think  that  such  things  can  long  disguise 
the  evils  or  retard  the  overthrow  of  a  bad  government, 
there  is  no  hellebore  except  the  fate  which  they  in- 
voke. Nor  can  that  fate,  in  its  good  season,  fail  to 
overtake  them,  if  they  so  continue  to  deserve  it.     Now, 


108  SPAIN. 

it  will  be  comparatively  easy  for  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment, in  the  patriotic  reaction  after  the  defeat  of  Lopez, 
—  the  loyal  rallying  of  all  parties  and  classes  around 
the  throne, —  to  put  an  end  to  discontent  and  danger. 
The  most  moderate  reforms,  —  the  mere  foreshadowing 
of  something  better,  —  any  thing  that  may  give,  or  seem 
to  give,  an  earnest  of  a  more  liberal  system  to  come, — 
will  suffice  to  revive  hopes  and  quicken  and  confirm 
allegiance.  Every  year  of  delay  will  render  the  task 
more  difficult  and  the  result  more  problematical. 

It  requires,  one  would  think,  but  ordinary  forecast 
and  familiarity  with  human  nature  to  perceive  all  this ; 
but  men  in  power,  and  especially  in  Spain,  seem  cursed 
with  the  fatality  of  thinking  that  the  present  is  all  of 
time.  The  pleasure  and  pride  of  governing  and  getting 
rich  by  it  appear  to  absorb  all  other  considerations,  even 
with  men  whose  capacity  and  experience  of  public  af- 
fairs ought  to  teach  them  that  duty  is  worth  discharg- 
ing, as  a  matter  of  policy  and  reputation  at  all  events, 
to  say  nothing  of  principle.  Causes,  however,  will  not 
cease  to  operate,  because  politicians  choose  to  disre- 
gard them.  The  flood-tide  of  the  ocean  had  small  care 
for  Canute.  Unless  there  be  a  change,  and  a  most  de- 
cided one,  in  the  attitude  of  Spain  towards  her  chief  col- 
ony, there  must,  sooner  or  later,  but  inevitably,  be  a 
repetition  of  the  memorable  lesson,  "  Cesf.  trop  tard  !  " 

But  let  it  not  for  a  moment  be  inferred  from  this, 
that  there  is  or  can  be  any  real  sympathy,  on  the  part 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Cuba,  with  the  expeditions  of  the 
buccaneers  who  have  given  so  much  trouble  to  them, 
and  brought  so  much  discredit  on  us,  of  late.  Results 
have  been  demonstrative  enough  on  this  point.     What 


SPAIN.  109 

the  Cubans  desire  is  improvement,  not  revolution,  — 
protection  to  property,  and  personal  security,  und(?r  a 
better  government  and  better  laws.  If  they  cannot  ob- 
tain these  things  from  the  mother  country,  they  may  be 
forced  or  tempted  to  seek  them  in  the  last  resort,  as  I 
have  said,  under  the  auspices  of  a  powerful  and  freor 
nation.  But  this  will  be  in  the  last  resort  only,  and 
peacefully,  if  possible.  Revolt  would,  at  the  best,  in- 
volve consequences  which  it  is  horrible  to  contemplate. 
The  Spanish  government  has  announced  its  inflexible 
determination,  that  the  island  shall  continue  Spanish  or 
be  made  African.  "  Cuba  ha  de  ser  Espaiiola  6  AfrU 
cana.''''  The  hour  in  which  the  standard  of  revolt 
should  be  successfully  reared,  would  see  the  slaves  let 
loose  upon  their  masters.  The  rapine,  murder,  and  in- 
cendiarism of.  a  single  day  of  servile  triumph  could 
never  be  repaired,  to  the  present  inhabitants  of  the 
island.  Othei-s  might  come  after  them  and  prosper, — 
the  island  itself  might  become  rich  and  great  in  time, 
under  other  institutions,  —  but  the  men  of  this  day  and 
the  things  that  are  theirs  would  disappear  in  the  conflict. 
The  power  of  the  Union  might  conquer,  —  it  could  not 
save.  If,  then,  the  Cubans  would  have  so  much  reason 
to  dread  the  drawing  of  the  sword,  with  all  the  force  of 
this  republic  on  their  side,  it  presupposes  madness  in 
them  to  imagine  that  they  can  seriously  countenance 
revolt,  with  no  other  reliance  than  the  Falstaff"  regiments 
of  our  steamboat  "  patriots."  There  is  double  reason 
for  their  shrinking  from  the  struggle  in  that  shape. 
Success  would  be  as  bad  as  defeat.  The  motives 
and  hopes  of  such  adventurers  as  would  seek  their 
shores   under  such   banners  could   onlv  be  based  on 


110  SPAIN. 

plunder.  Of  necessity  they  would  be  in  search  of 
better  fortunes.  Whence  would  the  plunder  —  whence 
would  the  fortunes  —  come  ?  All  the  generals  and 
colonels,  all  the  governors  and  other  miscellaneous  func- 
tionaries and  heroes  who  might  lead  or  follow  the  lib- 
erating chivalry,  would  of  course  expect  a  pound  of  pay 
to  every  ounce  of  glory.  They  would  take  leave  to 
dictate  their  own  rewards,  and  to  apportion  them,  if  there 
were  need,  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Unhappy 
Cuba  would  have  cause  to  sigh,  amid  the  seven  devils 
that  had  come  to  her,  for  the  single  one  she  had  been 
so  anxious  to  cast  out.  It  cannot  be  that  the  Cubans 
are  blind  to  all  this;  and  the  hopes  and  calculations 
which  rest  on  the  existence  of  such  blindness  must  beN 
frustrated.  Even  among  the  Antilles  there  are  people 
who  have  heard  of  J^sop,  and  remember  the  fable  of  the 
horse  who  submitted  to  the  rein  that  he  might  take  ven- 
geance on  his  enemy,  and  was  ridden  and  driven  for 
ever  after, —  the  drudge  and  victim  of  his  friend! 
They  must  have  read  our  history  but  little  and  ill,  not 
to  have  learned  that  "  annexation  "  is  equivalent  to  ab- 
sorption, and  that  the  "  proud  bird  "  in  which  we  glory 
so  much  has  claws  and  a  beak  for  his  own  edification, 
as  well  as  benignant  wings  for  the  protection  of  depend- 
ent poultry. 


SPAIN.  HI 


XI. 


The  Chamber  of  Deputies.  —  Teatro  de  Oriente. — 
jilnisters  and  opposition.  —  council  of  ministers. 
—  Seats  of  Ministers  in  the  Legislature. 

Although  legislative  bodies,  even  under  the  most 
liberal  system  of  suffrage,  do  not  universally  (with 
deference  be  it  said)  represent  the  best  phases  of  the  na- 
tional spirit,  intelligence,  or  taste,  they  are  nevertheless 
sufficiently  characteristic,  always,  in  their  deliberations, 
to  interest  a  stranger  greatly.  This  is  particularly  true 
of  the  more  popular  branch,  where  there  are  two.  The 
Congress  of  Deputies  in  Madrid  was  accordingly  one  of 
my  favorite  places  of  resort.  The  new  Palace,  which  the 
Deputies  now  occupy,  at  the  head  of  the  Carrera  de  San 
Geronimo,  near  the  Prado,  was  not  finished  or  dedi- 
cated to  its  legislative  uses  until  some  months  after  my 
return  home.  It  is  a  large  and  costly  building,  but  very 
badly  situated,  it  seems  to  me,  for  effect,  and,  although 
rendered  somewhat  imposing  by  its  size  and  classical 
pretensions,  is  wanting  in  dignity  and  taste.  Theophile 
Gautier  says  that  he  doubts  whether  good  laws  can 
possibly    be    made    under    such   architecture  ;    but   a 


112  SPAIN. 

traveller  from  the  United  States  must  needs  be  more 
hopeful,  in  view  of  the  excellent  legislation  which  has 
now  and  then  emanated  from  our  own  Capitol,  in  spite 
of  its  dome  and  the  statuary  on  its  portico  and  in  its 
neighborhood. 

The  Congress  held  its  sessions,  during  my  stay,  in  the 
saloon  of  the  Teatro  (theatre)  de  Oriente,  an  immense 
building,  then  still  unfinished,  but  since  converted,  at 
the  expense  of  the  government,  into  perhaps  the  most 
superb  opera-house  in  Europe.  It  lies  at  the  foot  of 
the  Calle  del  Arenal,  the  street  which  runs  directly  from 
the  Puerta  del  Sol  to  the  Royal  Palace,  and  obstructs, 
with  its  huge,  unsightly  pile  of  bricks,  the  thoroughfare 
and  view  from  the  Puerta  to  the  beautiful  Plaza  de 
Oriente.  The  Fi'ench,  during  their  occupation  of  Ma- 
drid, determined,  with  their  usual  good  taste  in  such 
matters,  that  the  avenue  between  the  Puerta  and  the 
Palace  should  be  direct  and  uninterrupted.  As  it  cost 
them  nothing  to  gratify  their  fancy,  they  caused  the 
interposing  buildings  to  be  demolished  accordingly. 
Ferdinand  the  Seventh,  with  his  proverbial  want  of 
taste,  and  his  recklessness  in  making  all  things  bend  to 
it,  resolved,  on  his  return,  not  to  remedy  the  private 
wrong  which  the  destruction  of  property  had  inflicted, 
but  to  throw  away  for  his  private  amusement  the  pub- 
lic good  which  had  been  purchased  by  the  sacrifice. 
It  occurred  to  him,  that  he  would  like  to  have  a  theatre 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  Palace,  so  that  he  might 
Step  into  it  by  a  covered  way,  after  dinner,  without 
danger  of  the  j}iilmo7iia  or  prejudice  to  his  digestion. 
Straightway,  therefore,  arose  the  Teatro  de  Oriente,  in 
the  very  course  of  the   Arenal    and  the  very  line  of 


SPAIN.  1  K'< 

view  from  thn  Palace  and  the  Puerla.     In  order  to  ren- 
der the  exploit  as  acceptable  as  might  be  to  his  people, 
he   caused    the    massive   foundations  and    ridiculously 
heavy  walls  of  the  structure  to  be   laid   with  an  utter 
contempt  of  cost,  and  provided  the  necessary  funds  by 
arhitrios  upon  the  fruits  of  Malaga,  and  other  equally 
rational  impositions.     "  Dios  nos  libre  del  despotismo  ! 
—  May  God  deliver  us  from  despotism  !  "  —  was  the 
fervent   ejaculation,  at  this  stage  of   his  story,  of  the 
worthy  Progresista  who  called  my  attention  to  these 
details.     But  Ferdinand  did  not  live  to  consummate  the 
triumph  of  his  caprice  over  popular  convenience,  the 
beauty  of  the  capital,  and  common  propriety  and  sense. 
The  political  troubles  which  followed  his  exit  were  too 
engrossing  to  permit  even  theatres  to  be  thought  of  or 
paid   for,  and  the   lumbering  mass  lay   almost  as    he 
left  it,  until  1850,  when  Sartorius  resolved  to  complete 
it  under  the  auspices  of  his  Department,  so  that  the 
prestige  of  the  Moderado  dynasty  might  be  strength- 
ened, by  the  popularity  of  Alboni  the  singer  and  Fuoco 
the   dancer.       In  the  mean  time,   however,    what   had 
been   meant  for  the  amusement  Ferdinand  most  loved 
(among  those  which  were  harmless)  was  applied  to  the 
purposes  he  most  hated, —  those  of  popular  legislation. 
The  saloon,  a  beautiful  and  commodious  chamber,  was 
finished  and  elegantly  fitted  up,  in  1841,  for  the  Con- 
gress of  Deputies.     All  the   necessary  apartments  for 
offices,  committee-rooms,    library  and   archives,  were 
easily  provided,  without  taxing  half  the  capabilities  of 
the  enormous  edifice,  and  —  except  for  the  name  of  the 
thing  —  Spain    might   have   been   spared,   for  at  least 
another  of  her  constitutional  cycles,  the  cost  of  yet 

8 


114  SPAIN. 

another  palace.  Surely,  in  the  state  of  her  finances, 
Senor  Conde  de  San  Luis  !  she  might  have  managed 
to  dispense  with  a  government  opera-house. 

At  the  head  of  the  saloon,  towards  the  north,  upon  a 
lofty  platform,  was  the  throne,  magnificent  in  drapery 
and  gilding,  guarded  by  couchant  lions,  gilded  also. 
In  front  of  this  was  the  chair  of  the  President,  before 
whom  the  secretaries  sat  at  their  table.  On  each  side 
was  a  sort  of  tribune  or  pulpit,  whence  orators  might 
speak,  if  they  chose,  and  from  which  the  ministers 
read  royal  edicts  on  occasions  of  great  state.  Along 
the  walls,  upon  the  platform,  were  the  diplomatic  and 
other  privileged  galleries.  The  seats  to  which  the  pub- 
lic were  admitted  were  at  the  lower  extremity  of  the 
chamber.  The  benches  of  the  members  were  placed 
in  ascending  grades,  parallel  with  the  length  of  the 
saloon,  down  the  centre  of  which  there  was  an  open 
passage  to  where  the  halberdiers,  in  antique  dresses, 
stood  at  the  foot.  None  but  the  ministers  were  sup- 
plied with  desks.  Little  slips  or  leaves  of  mahog- 
any, attached  to  the  backs  of  the  benches,  and  so 
arranged  that  they  could  be  raised  and  used  by  those 
sitting  behind,  for  the  convenience  of  taking  notes, 
seemed  to  answer  all  necessary  purposes.  The  min- 
isters sat  together,  on  the  first  front  bench  to  the  right, 
at  the  foot  of  the  presidential  platform.  Immediately 
behind  them  were  the  seats  of  some  of  their  most 
prominent  supporters,  and  a  little  lower  down,  on  the 
same  side,  were  several  of  the  leaders  of  the  Moderado 
opposition.  The  Progresistas  were  principally  grouped 
directly  in  front  of  the  ministers  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  central  passage.    The  appearance  of  the  body  was, 


SPAIN.  115 

on  the  whole,  dignified  and  prepossessing,  and  althoiigh 
it  numbered  three  hundred  and  fifty  members,  there 
was,  even  in  the  most  excited  debates,  a  general  ob- 
servance of  personal  and  parliamentary  decorum,  which 
illustrated  the  proverbial  good-breeding  of  the  nation. 

The  President  of  the  Deputies  seems  to  exercise  a 
much  more  arbitrary  jurisdiction  than  the  correspond- 
ing functionary  with  us.  His  control  over  the  hours 
of  meeting  and  adjournment  appears  to  be  discretionary, 
and  his  decision,  upon  questions  of  order  and  parlia- 
mentary privilege,  to  carry  the  force  of  law.  If  author- 
ity so  large  may  sometimes  (as  it  must)  be  abused, 
—  especially  where  the  influence  of  government  is  so 
marked,  and  where  the  Presidency  must  generally  be 
within  its  gift, —  there  is,  on  the  other  hand,  no  doubt 
that  time  and  disorder  are  greatly  economized  by  it,  ami 
that  a  vast  amount  of  empty  and  profitless  debate  is 
superseded.  Nor,  indeed,  am  I  sure  that  the  power  of 
a  partisan  majority  over  freedom  of  speech  is  not  less 
likely  to  be  unscrupulously  used  by  a  single  and  solely 
responsible  individual,  —  who,  although  elected  by  that 
majority,  has  yet  his  personal  integrity  and  intelligence 
directly  and  conspicuously  at  stake,  —  than  by  the  ma- 
jority itself,  in  whose  action  responsibility  is  divided,  and 
individual  scruples  are  swept  off  their  feet  by  the  rush 
of  the  crowd. 

The  ministers  of  the  crown  are  not  ex  officio  mem- 
bers of  the  Cortes,  but,  if  they  belong  to  either  of  the 
legislative  bodies,  they  may  take  part  in  the  discussions 
of  both,  though  without  the  right  of  voting  e.xcept  in  that 
of  which  they  are  members.  The  administration  is 
distributed  into  seven  Departments,  each  of  which  has 


116  SPAIN. 

its  Secretary.  The  Minister  of  State  discharges  the 
usual  duties  of  such  a  functionary.  The  Minister  of 
Grace  and  Justice  is  charged  with  the  superintendence 
of  the  legal  and  judicial  system,  —  the  control  of  ec- 
clesiastical affairs,  patents  of  nobility,  pardons,  priv- 
ileges, and  legal  dispensations,  —  the  custody  and  au- 
thentication of  the  laws  of  the  realm,  —  and  a  thousand 
collateral  branches  of  duty  and  patronage  such  as  must 
necessarily  belong  to  so  comprehensive  a  Department. 
The  Minister  of  Gobernacion  (or  of  the  Interior),  has 
the  control  of  police  and  taxes,  —  the  post-office  and  the 
conscription, —  the  internal  government  of  the  provinces, 
so  far  as  that  belongs  to  the  central  authority,  —  the 
management  of  theatres  and  bull-fights,  the  press  and 
the  prisons.  His  jurisdiction  embraces  the  colonies,  and 
his  duties  therefore  are  complicated  and  almost  incal- 
culable. The  Minister  of  Commerce,  Instruction,  and 
Public  Works,  and  the  Secretaries  of  Finance,  War,  and 
the  Navy,  exercise  respectively  their  obvious  functions. 
The  seven  Secretaries  form  what  is  called  the  Council 
of  Ministers,  which  is  presided  over  by  one  of  their  num- 
ber, or  by  an  eighth  minister  designated  by  the  crown, 
in  its  discretion,  and  without  any  particular  administra- 
tive duties.  Narvaez,  like  a  sensible  man,  chose  to  be 
President  of  the  Council,  and  nothing  more  in  name 
or  duty,  though  every  thing  in  power.  He  was  rarely 
absent  from  the  sessions  of  the  Congress,  and  although 
he  of  course  left  to  his  colleagues  the  labor  of  dis- 
cussing those  measures  which  involved  their  particular 
Departments  and  the  details  of  the  administration,  he 
w^as  always  on  the  alert,  like  a  skilful  general  and  brave 
soldier,  watching  the  changes  of  the  fight,  and  ready  to 


SPAIN.  117 

throw    himself,    sword    in   liand,  wherever  the  enemy 
pressed  fiercely. 

I  may  say,  in  this  connection,  that  I  could  not  avoid 
being  frequently  struck,  in   the   Gortes,  with  the  great 
advantage,  in  many  points  of  view,  of  giving  seats  in 
the  legislature  to  the  chief  counsellors  of  the  executive. 
I  do  not,  of  course,  speak  with  regard  to  the  convenience 
of  the   members  of  the  Cabinet  themselves,  —  though 
there  is  no  reason  why  that  should  not  be  consulted, — 
but  in  view  of  the  many  and  great  facilities  which  the 
system   gives,   for   the   transaction    of  public  business. 
A  thousand  unimportant  inquiries,  gravely  instituted  by 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  and 
entailing  upon  the  heads  of  Departments  the  most  weari- 
some and  unnecessary  waste  of  that  time,  which,  when 
most  faithfully  and  economically  used,  scarce  sufilces 
for  the  thorough  discharge  of  their  indispensable  duties, 
might    be    satisfied,   in  a  few  moments,  or  altogether 
superseded,  by  a  timely  word  or  two  of  oral  question 
and  explanation.     The  gross  and  unbecoming  personal 
attacks  which  have,  of  late,  so  unfortunately  tended  to 
make  our  executive  dignities  comparatively  unattractive 
to   those   who  could  wear  them  most   worthily,  would 
not  be  half  so  frequent,  I  am  sure,  were  the  assailants 
confronted  with  the  ability  and  character,  which,  at  a 
distance  and  under  so  many  disadvantages,  may  now  be 
outraged  with  impunity.     Suggestions,  which  the  expe- 
rience of  a  Secretary  and  his  superior  knowledge    of 
details  might  enable  him  constantly  and   most  advanta- 
geously to  throw  out,  for  the  perfection  of  measures 
concerning  his  Department,  now  onl)',  in  most  cases, 
reach  the  legislature    indirectly,  and  often  through  the 


118  SPAIN. 

medium   of  committees    whose  adverse  views  hardly 
transmit  them  fairly,  and  never  fully. 

Nor  is  there  any  evil  very  apparent  which  diminishes 
the  force  of  these  considerations.     The  fear  of  execu- 
tive  influence  is  a  sorry  bugbear, —  for,  if  the   execu- 
tive is  not  present  to  speak  for  itself,  it  must  needs,  in  the 
best  way  it  can,  procure  others,  among  the  legislators 
themselves,  to  speak  for  it,  —  and  it  is  not  very  likely 
that  corruption  will  be  decreased  by  increasing  the  ne- 
cessity for  its  application.    Equally  unfounded,  too,  is  the 
notion  that  the  presence  of  those  who  dispense  patron- 
age  will    be   a  restraint   on   legislative    independence. 
The  yeas  and  nays  are  far  more  tyrannical  than  any 
browbeating.     Where  every  man's  vote  is  known  to  his 
neighbor,  or   may  be,  those  who  vote  to  be  profited 
will  find  no  compulsion  more  stringent  and  domineering 
than  that  applied  by  their  interests.     If  people  are  su- 
perstitious on  the  subject  of  keeping  the  legislative  and 
executive  functions  distinctly  apart,  —  a  very  singular 
superstition,  by  the  by,  under  a  constitution  which  em- 
bodies the  veto  power,  —  let  them  give  the  Secretaries 
the   right  to  participate  in  the  debates,  but  not  to  vote. 
Let  each  —  if  scrupulosity  in  the  premises  be  deemed 
a   virtue  —  be  confined  to  the  discussion  of  what  in- 
volves his  particular  branch  of  the  service,  or  at  all 
events  let  none  of  them  have  a  wider  range  than  over 
matters    purely  executive.     I    do   not,  myself,  see  the 
necessity  of  any  such  restrictions.     I  think  that  what  is 
called  the  "  one-man  power  "  is  only  dangerous  in  the 
newspapers.     The  legislature,  within  its  constitutional 
province,  is  quite  able  to  take  care  of  itself,  and  in  its 
customary  practice  of  "  platform  "  and  President  mak- 


SPAIN.  119 

ing  has  an  additional  element  of  masterj-,  wliicli  ren- 
ders it  almost  omnipotent.  The  introduction  of  the 
change  I  have  commented  on,  instead  of  diminishing 
the  legitimate  or  increasing  the  illegitimate  sway  of  Con- 
gress,  would,  I  am  sure,  have  a  contrary  eflcct.  It  would 
make  executive  responsibility  more  certain,  by  render- 
ing it  more  direct  and  unavoidable,  and  would,  on  tin? 
other  hand,  give  to  ability,  candor,  eloquence,  and 
patriotism  the  opportunity  of  preventing  misrepresenta- 
tion and  injustice,  by  being  their  own  immediate  inter- 
preters. 


120  SPAIN. 


XII. 


General  Narvaez.  —  Ministerial  Profits.  —  Marquis  of 

PiDAL.  —  ASTURIAN      NOBILITT. —  Sr.      MoN.  —  PROHIBI- 
TIVE Duties  and  the  Catalans. 

I  HAVE  already  spoken  of  the  Duke  of  Valencia, — 
better  known  as  General  Narvaez, —  with  the  respect 
which  I  think  his  ability  deserves,  in  spite  of  many 
things,  in  his  political  system  and  practices,  which  it  is 
impossible  not  to  condemn.  The  controlling  position 
which  he  occupied,  for  some  years,  in  his  native  country, 
and  the  remarkable  energy  and  wisdom  with  which  he 
managed  to  carry  his  government  in  peace  through  the 
stormy  times  which  succeeded  the  last  French  revolution, 
have  attracted  much  attention  to  him  from  the  European 
world.  Upon  the  Continent,  his  reputation,  as  a  statesman 
and  ruler,  is  very  high.  In  England  —  particularly  since 
his  dismissal  of  Sir  Henry  Bulwer  —  there  has  been  a 
disposition  shown  to  treat  him  as  a  mere  soldier  of  for- 
tune, to  whose  greatness  accident  has  stood  godfather, 
and  who  could  only  be  eminent,  inter  minora  sidera,  in 
Spain.  As  the  most  of  what  we  know,  in  reference  to 
Continental  matters,  comes  to  us  from  the  British  press, 


SPAIN.  121 

it  is  natural  that  British  opinions  should,  in  tlic  main, 
be  the  basis  of  ours,  and  it  thus  happens  that  the  Httle 
which  is  said  and  thought  of  Narvaez,  in  the  United 
States,  is  tinctured  with  the  injustice  prevailing  at  the 
source  from  which  it  comes. 

Entering  the  diplomatic  gallery  of  tlie  Salon  de 
Oriente,  you  found  yourself  not  very  far  from  the  bench 
occupied  by  the  ministers.  At  its  head  there  sat — or 
frequently  stood,  receiving  the  salutations  of  the  mem- 
bers as  they  passed  —  a  man  apparently  a  little  over  fifty 
years  of  age,  and  rather  below  the  middle  size.  He 
was  scrupulously  well  dressed, —  sometimes  almost  too 
elaborately,  —  his  figure  erect  and  well  proportioned, 
his  bearing  somewhat  haughty,  yet  full  of  studious 
courtesy.  But  that  he  had  place  and  power,  which 
ladies  love,  it  would  not  have  been  easy  to  conceive 
what  had  made  him  so  proverbial  a  favorite  with  the 
fair  daughters  of  his  country ;  for  his  features,  though 
striking,  were  hard  and  weather-worn,  and  the  best 
Paris  perruqiiier  had  not  been  able  to  make  art  as  or- 
namental as  nature.  Sometimes  he  wore  a  ribbon  at  his 
buttonhole,  but  often  he  was  without  any  decoration, 
and,  save  the  aspect  of  the  man  himself  and  the  defer- 
ence which  almost  insensibly  waited  on  his  presence, 
there  was  nothing  of  outward  sign  to  tell  a  stranger 
that  the  absolute  ruler  of  Spain  and  its  dependencies 
was  before  him. 

If  you  waited,  however,  until  the  order  of  the  day 
was  called,  and  the  discussion  happened  to  be  one  of 
moment,  it  soon  became  perceptible  that  the  leader  of 
the  ministerial  phalanx  was,  by  all  odds  and  on  all  ac- 
counts, the  leader  of  the   Congress.     Although,  as  I 


122  SPAIN. 

have  said,  he  left  to  his  associates  the  consideration  of 
details,  he  assumed  absolute  control  over  the  spirit  of 
the  debate  on  his  side  of  the  question.  Upon  all  points 
involving  the  dignity  of  the  monarch  and  the  integrity  of 
his  own  administration,  —  upon  all  personal  questions, 

—  all  occasions  vi'here  there  was  play  for  that  wisdom 
which  comes  of  will,  and,  more  than  all  things  else, 
despotically  sways  assemblages  of  men,  —  his  mastery 
was  instantly  manifest.  It  is  true  that  his  position,  and 
the  deference  of  the  President  and  the  majority  of  the 
Deputies,  would  have  given  great  advantages  to  even 
an  ordinary  man ;  but  there  was  that  in  the  glancing 
of  his  fierce  gray  eye,  in  his  condensed  and  pointed 
thought  and  his  impassioned  utterance,  which  made  the 
parliamentary  predominance  of  Narvaez  obviously  his 
own.  Sometimes  he  was  overbearing  in  speech,  as  he 
undoubtedly  is  in  temper,  but  he  would  almost  invaria- 
bly make  generous  atonement,  —  often,  indeed,  so  chiv- 
alrously, as  to  render  his  very  trespass  an  element  of 
sympathy.  Occasionally  he  would  fling  out  a  stinging 
epigram,  conceived  in  the  very  happiest  spirit  of  popu- 
lar oratory.  "  The  honorable  gentleman,"  he  said  one 
day  in  reply  to  Cortina,  one  of  the  leading  Progresistas, 

—  "  the  honorable  gentleman  will  have  it,  Sir,  that  the 
administration  is  indebted,  for  its  failures,  to  itself,  —  for 
its  successes,  to  Chance  !  I  give  Chance  joy.  Sir,  of  so 
eminent  a  votary  as  the  gentleman  !  I  congratulate 
the  honorable  gentleman  himself  upon  the  happy  ac- 
cident which,  when  he  tossed  into  the  air  the  seven-and- 
twenty  letters  of  the  alphabet,  brought  down  the  grace- 
ful combinations  of  his  eloquent  discourse  !  " 

I  was  informed  by  a  distinguished  member  of  the 


SPAIN.  123 

opposition,  that  Narvaez  lacked  fluency  except  in  pas- 
sionate appeals,  and  that  his  argumentative  elForts  were 
always  carefully  prepared,  even  to  the  extent  of  being 
written  as  they  were  delivered.  If  this  be  correct,  the 
Spanish  statesman  does  only  what  tlic  greatest  masters 
of  parliamentary  art  have  done,  and  wisely ;  but  J 
can  scarcely  reconcile  it  with  his  impulsive  nature  and 
fervent  elocution.  His  graver  speeches  were  generally 
reserved  to  close  the  debate,  —  a  course  which  he  was 
particularly  justified  in  pursuing,  as  well  by  the  force 
of  his  character  and  influence,  as  by  his  power  of  anal- 
ysis and  condensation.  He  was  never  very  long  upon 
the  floor,  for  he  is  a  man  of  few  words.  His  mind 
seemed  to  direct  itself,  instinctively,  towards  the  heart 
of  the  controversy,  —  avoiding  all  things  collateral  and 
extraneous.  He  presented  the  strong  points  of  his  own 
case  in  the  most  compact,  impressive  way,  and  attacked 
the  strong  points  of  his  adversaries  with  a  directness 
and  a  gallantry  which  were  always  effective,  and  often 
triumphant.  When  he  had  finished  his  argument,  his 
speech  was  finished  too  ;  and  although  men  of  finer 
elocution,  more  attractive  fancy,  more  philosophical 
and  copious  thought,  might,  with  their  best  ability, 
have  gone  before  him,  his  summing  up  seemed  always 
to  have  left  the  question  at  the  very  point  whence  you 
could  see  it  best  and  judge  of  it  most  justly. 

What  I  have  said  of  the  parliamentary  efforts  of 
Narvaez  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  fact  that  he 
is  not  a  highly  educated  or  intellectually  cultivated 
man.  Although  of  noble  connection,  he  spent  the 
earlier  portion  of  his  life  among  the  mountains  of  An- 
dalusia, in  narrow  circumstances,  without  much  chance 


124 


SPAIN. 


of  converse  with  men  or  books.  Many  of  his  first 
speeches,  it  is  said,  gave  decided  evidence  of  the  de- 
fects which  so  Hmited  a  career  necessarily  induced,  and 
now  his  best  efforts  are  but  little  indebted  for  their  suc- 
cess to  literary  taste,  historical  illustration,  or  other  men's 
theories  and  thoughts.  His  rapid  perceptions,  however, 
and  rare  memory,  have  made  the  brilliant  opportu- 
nities of  his  later  years  stand  practically  in  stead  of  the 
advantages  of  youth,  and  while,  even  in  the  midst  of  a 
life  of  action  and  excitement,  he  has  been  able  propor- 
tionally to  widen  the  sphere  and  multiply  the  variety 
of  his  acquirements,  his  extraordinary  tact  has  con- 
verted him  into  as  consummate  a  man  of  the  world, 
as  one  with  so  impetuous  and  proud  a  spirit  well  can 
be.  In  the  most  polished  circles  of  Madrid,  surrounded 
by  distinguished  foreigners  and  the  elite  of  his  own 
countrymen,  he  would  be  selected  at  a  glance  for  what 
he  is,  by  any  careful  observer  of  men  ;  nor  would  a 
nearer  view  disclose  a  single  point,  in  which  he  would 
appear  to  fall  below  the  high  social  standard  by  which 
his  position  exposes  him  to  be  tested.  His  accent  and 
forms  of  speech  are  decidedly  Andalusian,  and  his 
familiar  conversation  has,  from  this,  a  freshness  and 
frankness  rendering  it  at  times  exceedingly  attractive. 
On  the  whole,  however,  his  manners  are  more  kingly 
than  genial,  and  were  it  not  that  he  is  loyal  and  abiding 
in  his  friendships,  —  remembering  benefits  always,  and 
rewarding  services  at  every  hazard,  —  he  would  seem 
more  likely  to  command  respect  than  win  a  warmer 
feeling.  Nevertheless,  there  were  many  around  him, 
at  that  day,  whose  devotion  scarce  knew  bounds.  His 
present  political  adversity  will  afford  him  an  unhappy 
opportunity  of  testing  their  sincerity  and  constancy. 


SPAIN.  125 

Rumor  says  that  Narvaez  has  acquired  large  wealth 

by  his  pohtical   career.     It   would    be  strange  if  there 

were  not  some  truth   in  this,  for  what  Gongoni  said  of 

his  own  generation  has  not  gone  out  of  fashion  :  — 

"  La  corte  vende  su  gala, 
La  guerra  su  valentia." 

Rare  is  the  public  servant,  now-a-days,  who  does  not 
hive  enough  honey,  from  a  summer  in  the  gardens 
of  the  state,  to  sweeten  the  remainder  of  his  days ! 
I  remember  calling  upon  a  venerable  gentleman,  who 
had  filled  for  several  years,  with  rare  ability  and  punc- 
tuality, the  post  of  Finance  Minister  under  Ferdinand 
the  Seventh.  The  modest  simplicity  of  his  household 
arrangements  attracted  the  attention  of  my  companion, 
a  practised  courtier,  who  exclaimed  as  the  door  closed 
on  us,  "  How  unobtrusively  that  old  man  lives !  Yet 
he  was  minister  ten  years !  One  who  is  minister  for 
ten  days,  now,  is  considered  simple  if  his  fortune  be  not 
made  !  "  I  could  not  help  recalling  the  bitterness  of  an 
apostrophe,  which  I  had  just  read  in  a  contemporary 
sketch  of  an  eminent  person,  who,  like  our  host,  had 
passed  without  reproach  through  a  life  of  temptation 
and  opportunity.  "  Console  not  thyself,"  said  the  bioo-. 
rapher,  "  with  the  anticipation  that  generations  yet  to 
come  will  bless  thy  memory,  or  name  thee  as  a  model 
of  propriety  and  honor  !  In  the  unhappy  country  whore 
thou  dwellest,  and  in  the  glorious  times  which  thou  and 
we  have  fallen  on,  though  he  who  steals  is  called  a  thief, 
he  who  steals  not  is  reckoned  but  a  fool ! " 

An  anecdote,  related  to  me,  unreservedly,  by  one  of 
the  parties,  will  show,  that,  although  the  passage  just 
cited  may  have  slightly  exaggerated  tlie  evil  for  the  sake 


126  SPAIN. 

of  the  antithesis,  it  does  no  great  injustice  to  the  politi- 
cal habits  of  the  capital.  That  the  anecdote  should  be 
true,  as  I  am  sure  it  is,  seems  strange  enough.  That 
it  should  have  been  told,  without  hesitation,  is  stranger, 
but  makes  it  the  more  characteristic,  as  a  picture  of 
public  and  private  morals. 

"  I  am  about  to  form  a  ministry,"  said  a  prominent 
Deputy  to  a  still  more  prominent  Senator,  —  "  will  you 
join  it  ?  " 

"  No,  — I  am  too  old,  and,  besides,  it  will  not  last." 

"  Voya  homhre  !  Estd  vmd.  loco  ?  Are  you  mad  .'' 
You  are  surely  old  enough  to  be  wiser.  Take  a  secre- 
tariship,  and  pocket  all  you  can  get  hold  of  When 
you  are  tired,  or  have  enough,  you  can  join  issue  with 
the  administration,  on  the  popular  side  of  some  exciting 
question,  and  go  out  with  your  gains,  in  patriotic  disgust. 
Nobody  will  interfere  with  you,  if  you  keep  quiet.  You 
will  have  no  rivals,  because  you  will  be  in  nobody's 
way,  and  the  people  at  large  will  venerate  you  too  much, 
as  a  martyr,  to  think  of  molesting  you  or  your  money." 

"  y  era  sabio  el  consejo  !  —  It  was  good  advice  too  !  " 
said  the  Senator  ;  "  but  I  am  too  old  for  intrigues,  now  : 
and  besides,  I  did  n't  like  his  programme  !  " 

If  Narvaez  has,  indeed,  been  frail  enough  to  yield  to 
the  temptations  of  his  class  and  generation,  he  is,  never- 
theless, entitled  to  the  credit  of  having  done  good  work 
for  good  wages,  —  which  is  saying  a  good  deal,  as  the 
ways  of  politicians  are  ordered  in  our  day.  An  Aristi- 
des  or  a  Washington  is,  of  course,  the  best  model  for  a 
statesman,  but  as  that  style  is  not  prevalent  just  now,  — 
except,  perhaps,  among  candidates  for  the  Presidency 
of  the  United  States, — -nations  (in  the  Old  World  at 


SPAIN.  127 

least)  ought  to  be  satisfied,  if  they  can  compromise  for 
ability,  firmness,  and  nationality  in  their  rulers,  without 
looking  too  closely  into  their  accounts.  The  Hcrahlo 
of  Madrid  administered,  one  day,  a  most  indignant  and 
virtuous  rebuke  to  some  curioso  impertinente  in  the 
Patria,  who  dared  to  suggest  that  the  Corregidor  ot 
Madrid  received  a  larger  salary  than  he  was  worth. 
"To  sift  such  matters  too  closely,"  said  the  ministerial 
organ,  —  taking  the  bull  by  the  horns,  in  gallant  style, 
like  a  true  Spaniard,  —  "  is  to  trifle  with  the  proper  im- 
portance of  the  authorities,  and  to  take  away  from  them 
the  prestige  and  moral  force,  without  which  they  will 
not  be  respected  ! "  Narvaez,  even  if  he  be  grasping, 
is,  at  all  events,  not  sordid,  —  having  all  the  good  qual- 
ities of  a  soldier,  though  he  may  have  some  of  the  faults 
which  too  generally  follow  military'  men  into  the  exer- 
cise of  civil  power.  In  exile,  as  in  prosperity,  his  generous 
impulses  have  never  halted  at  personal  sacrifice.  In  the 
capital,  as  Prime  Minister,  he  dispensed  a  liberal  and 
magnificent  hospitality,  which  must  have  scattered  his 
harvest  almost  as  rapidly  as  it  was  gathered.  In  this 
particular,  his  practice  was  perhaps  the  more  remark- 
able, from  its  contrast  with  that  of  his  colleagues,  into 
whose  houses  no  one  was  ever  known  to  penetrate,  ex- 
cept an  occasional  burglar  or  a  man  with  a  present. 

A  conversation  which  took  place  before  me  —  and 
to  which  I  am  not  precluded  from  referring,  by  its 
tenor  or  the  circumstances  under  which  I  heard  it  — 
gives  so  fair  an  idea  of  the  principles  of  action  by  which 
Narvaez  has  raised  himself  to  power,  that  I  may  very 
properly  close  with  it  this  incidental  review  of  his  most 
salient  traits.     A  remark  was  made,  by  one  of  the  com- 


128  SPAIN. 

pany,  in  regard  to  the  large  number  of  robberies  which 
the  newspapers  had  recently  reported.  Narvaez  re- 
plied, that  he  had  no  doubt  there  was  much  exaggera- 
tion in  them.  "  I  have  been  hearing  of  such  things,  all 
my  life,"  he  added,  "and  I  suppose  a  great  deal  that  I 
have  heard  has  been  true.  Yet  I  have  travelled,  alone, 
in  every  part  of  Spain,  —  over  plains  and  mountains,  — 
by  night  and  by  day,  —  on  foot  and  in  the  saddle,  — 
often  without  arms,  and  sometimes  with  a  very  full 
purse, —  without  having  once  met  a  highwayman,  to 
my  knowledge,  —  certainly  without  having  ever  been 
robbed.  I  cannot,  therefore,  help  thinking  that  I  have 
a  right  to  my  doubts,  and  that  the  reputation  of  the 
country  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  them."  "  Your  Ex- 
cellency's experience  scarcely  furnishes  any  basis  for 
a  general  rule,"  was  the  reply.  "  Some  men's  fortunes 
{la  Slier te  de  algunos)  are  proof  against  all  contingen- 
cies, and  those  of  your  Excellency  were  not  fashioned 
for  mishaps."  "  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  the  Duke, 
"  I  have  no  faith  in  any  luck,  except  that  which  arises 
from  foresight  and  care  {prevision  y  cuidado).  Luck 
would  run  equal  and  even  to  all  men,  in  a  year,  on 
the  doctrine  of  chances,  and  one  who  wants  more  of  it 
than  other  men  must  make  it  for  himself."  It  was 
natural  enough  that  the  winner  of  such  heavy  stakes 
should  be  unwilling  to  let  the  cards  have  all  the  credit  of 
his  game.  As  a  loser,  perhaps,  he  might  have  had  no 
objection  to  throw  the  responsibility  on  la  suerte.  His 
life,  however,  has  been  an  active  illustration  of  his  sin- 
cerity in  what  he  said,  and  no  one  can  doubt  the  wis- 
dom of  his  conclusions. 

Next  to  the  President  of  the  Council,  on  the  ministe- 


SPAIN.  IQD 

rial  bench,  sat  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Marquis  of 
Pidal.  Like  the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet,  he  was 
among  the  nohleza  7iueva,  or  new  nobility,  having  been 
formerly  plain  Don  Pedro  Pidal,  without  any  mar- 
quisate,  and  having  come,  report  said,  from  a  very 
humble  origin.  The  Asturians,  however,  of  whom  he 
is  one,  arc  all  nobles  in  a  certain  sense,  nobility  having 
been  gratefully  and  royally  bestowed,  by  the  whol'^sale 
and  in  advance,  upon  all  who  might  be  born  within  the 
Province,  as  a  reward  for  the  glorious  and  patriotic  ef- 
forts of  their  fathers,  who  fought  with  Don  Pelayo.  The 
distinction  is,  no  doubt,  a  very  gratifying  one,  though  its 
principal  practical  benefit,  I  believe,  consists  in  giving 
them  certain  honorable  privileges,  should  they  happen  to 
find  themselves  under  the  ban  of  the  penal  law.  Before 
the  abolition  of  hanging,  by  Ferdinand  the  Seventh,  the 
Asturians  were  exempt  from  the  degradation  of  that 
uncomfortable  mode  of  dismission.  They  were  entitled 
to  be  garrote-6^  in  preference,  —  which  was  always 
held  far  more  satisfactory  and  creditable.  Not  only 
that,  but  the  law  made  further  distinctions  in  their  be- 
half. The  garrote  is  either  vil  or  tiolle,  —  vile  or 
noble.  The  garrole  vil  does  a  gentleman  to  death  upon 
a  bare  platform  of  planks,  without  lu.vuries  or  applian- 
ces of  any  sort.  The  garrote  nolle  refreshes  his  eyes 
and  consoles  his  feet  with  such  carpeting  as  he  and  his 
friends  may  find  suitable  to  their  taste  and  fortunes. 
The  Asturians  were  exempt  from  the  garrote  vil,  ex- 
cept only  when  convicted  of  leze-majcsty.  For  all 
other  oflTences,  they  had  the  right  to  the  garrote  noble, 
and  went  to  their  reward,  like  gentlefolk  as  they  were, 
according  to  the  statute  in  such  case    made  and  pro- 

9 


130  SPAIN. 

vided.  I  take  it  for  granted  that  the  suppression  of  the 
hangman  has  not  impaired  this  inestimable  and  inalien- 
able privilege.  Indeed,  to  allow  them  still  their  proper 
and  equitable  rank,  they  ought  to  be  entitled  to  such  an 
improvement  in  their  furniture,  on  such  occasions,  as 
would  give  to  the  Asturian  the  precise  degree  of  supe- 
riority over  the  vulgar  garrote,  which  the  garrote  itself, 
in  its  totality,  once  enjoyed  over  the  gallows. 

But  I  am  wrong  in  saying  that  the  privilege  which 
I  have  mentioned  is  the  chief  benefit  the  Asturians 
derive  from  their  provincial  patent  of  nobility.  They 
drive  a  brisk  trade,  it  is  said,  in  entroncamientos,  or 
family-trees,  which  they  sell  ^to  the  nouveaux  riches 
from  other  provinces,  who,  like  the  Niger,  have  no 
source.  You  can  purchase  the  very  best  commodities 
of  that  sort,  in  the  Asturian  pedigree-market,  at  a  very 
reasonable  rate,  —  a  fact  which  may  not  be  altogether 
uninteresting  to  those  of  our  republican  countrymen 
who  are  in  the  habit  of  seeking  their  ancestral  arms  at 
the  British  Herald's  Office.  To  have  come  down  from 
a  hero  who  wore  sheepskin  breeches  in  the  days  of 
Don  Pelayo,  is  quite  as  respectable  as  to  have  de- 
scended from 

"  An  outridere  who  loved  venerie," 

in  the  times  of  the  red-headed  William,  and,  cceteris 
paribus,  cheapness  ought  to    be  the   guide  of  a  com- 
mercial people,  even  in  the  matter  of  purchasing  blue- 
blood. 

The  Marquis  of  Pidal  —  who  (with  the  reader)  must 
pardon  this  digression  to  his  Province  —  is  a  large 
and  rather  heavy-looking  man.     He  might  readily  be 


SPAIN.  l.Tl 

taken  for  the  grave,  laborious  student  of  the  legal  an- 
tiquities of  his  country  which  he  is,  —  but  one  would 
hardly  have  imagined  him  to  be  the  best  debater,  as  he 
was,  among  the  Moderados.  According  to  the  charac- 
ter I  had  of  him,  he  is,  by  natural  inclination,  a  con- 
servative, somewhat  in  the  extreme, —  so  that  he  car- 
ried to  the  discussions  in  the  Cortes  a  sincerity  of  con- 
viction which  many  of  his  fellow-partisans  could  hardly 
have  the  gravity  to  claim.  Although  a  lawyer  of  emi- 
nent attainments  in  the  more  recondite  learning  of  his 
profession,  he  had  not  acquired,  by  any  large  devotion  to 
its  practical  duties,  that  unfitness  for  parliamentary  de- 
bate, which  so  many  of  his  brethren,  in  other  coun- 
tries, have  illustrated  by  conspicuous  failure.  Nor  had 
he  gone  sufficiently  beyond  those  fields  of  literature  and 
history  which  lie  near  his  own  peculiar  domain  of  legal 
antiquarianism,  to  embarrass  himself  with  the  broad 
views  and  theoretical  difficulties  which  sometimes  ren- 
der philosophical  statesmen  as  unready  at  the  tribune 
as  Athelstane  in  the  tourney.  He  had  tact  and  logi- 
cal adroitness,  —  was  bold  and  confident,  —  denounced 
the  recreant,  and  whipped  in  the  lagging,  —  asserted 
dogmatically  what  he  could  not  prove,  and  indignantly 
denied  what  could  not  be  proven  against  him.  If  need 
were,  he  could  be  sarcastic  ;  if  pleasant  satire  suited 
better,  he  was  no  mean  master  of  the  weapon.  Gen- 
erally grave,  however,  he  managed  to  surround  his 
speeches  and  himself  with  an  atmosphere  of  earnest- 
ness and  authority,  which  made  what  was  true  the 
more  effective,  and  kept  the  most  of  his  opponents 
from  laying  hands  profane  on  even  what  was  false. 
All  who  know  any  thing  of  popular  assemblies  and 


132  SPAIN. 

the  oratory  which  impresses  and  controls  them,  will 
see  the  wisdom  of  the  choice  which  made  Pidal,  with 
such  abilities,  one  of  the  official  defenders  of  the  Min- 
istry. 

As  Secretary  of  State,  the  Marquis  was  less  of  an 
acquisition.  His  general  attainments  were  said  to  be 
limited,  and  he  was  particularly  narrow,  it  was  reported, 
in  his  knowledge  of  foreign  countries,  and  his  views  of 
foreign  policy.  His  habits  of  business  were  so  ex- 
tremely sluggish,  that  they  had  passed  into  a  proverb. 
The  verb  pidahar,  framed  by  a  witty  journalist  upon 
his  name,  was  held  to  signify  the  utmost  effort  of  pos- 
sible dilly-dallying  and  procrastination.  The  influences 
which  had  made  him  prominent  were  not,  in  the  main, 
his  own  ;  for  his  manners  —  which  do  much  in  Spain  — 
had  somewhat  of  the  rustic  savor  that  his  mountain 
education  naturally  gave,  and  his  temper  was  by  no 
means  of  the  plastic  sort.  He  had,  however,  married 
the  sister  of  the  former  Finance  Secretary,  Don  Alejan- 
dro Mon,  whose  superior  advantages  and  real  ability, 
with  an  excellent  talent  for  intrigue,  had  given  him 
access  to  the  springs  of  power.  The  alliance  made 
PidaPs  fortune,  and  doubtless  Mon  found  in  him  a  use- 
ful yoke-fellow.  They  went  generally  by  the  name  of 
"  the  brothers-in-law,"  and  their  friendship  was  supposed 
to  be  that  of  Damon  and  Pythias,  rendered  addition- 
ally durable  and  affectionate  by  an  identity  of  interests. 
They  were  both  Queen  Cristina's  men,  and  were  sup- 
posed, like  her  Majesty,  to  have  no  very  sincere  regard 
for  Narvaez,  who  had  an  unpleasant  will  of  his  own, 
and  obstinately  refused  to  be  governed  by  that  of  any 
body  else.     It  was  for  this  reason  that,  as  I  have  said, 


SPAIN.  133 

ihey  considered  it  prudent  to  have  their  ewn  j)articiilar 
interests  and  opinions  advocated  by  the  Pais,  instead 
of  making  common  cause  with  the  Ministry,  and  trust- 
ing to  its  formal  organ. 

Mon,  some  time  before,  had  left  his  place  in  the  Cab- 
inet, probably  not  from  choice,  and  he  was  believed, 
when  I  was  in  Madrid,  to  be  upon  such  equivocal  terms 
with  the  Administration,  as  to  render  it  probable  he 
would  be  advised  to  visit  London  for  his  health.  The 
fiscal  policy  of  his  successor  being,  however,  but  a 
continuation  of  his  own,  he  came  forward  to  defend  it 
in  the  Cortes  during  the  debate  on  the  budget.  His 
speech  was  announced  some  days  beforehand,  and,  as 
it  was  looked  for  with  much  interest,  the  floor  was  sur- 
rendered to  him  at  his  discretion.  I  was  present  at  its 
delivery  ;  but  it  was  one  so  purely  of  detail,  that  I 
found  myself  without  the  information  (or,  as  the  Span- 
iards say,  los  antecedentes,  the  antecedents)  neces- 
sary to  a  proper  appreciation  of  its  quality.  I  have  no 
hesitation,  however,  in  saying  that,  as  a  piece  of  elocu- 
tion, it  was  worthy  of  the  worst  possible  cause.  The 
speaker's  voice  was  thin  and  weak,  his  appearance  not 
striking,  his  gesture  hasty  and  ungraceful,  and  his  ar- 
ticulation exactly  what  might  have  been  expected  from 
Demosthenes,  during  his  first  experiments  with  the 
pebbles.  All  parties,  nevertheless,  seemed  to  agree  that 
the  discourse  was  an  able  one,  and  it  certainly  was 
bold,  explicit,  and  manly.  I  was  glad  to  have  heard 
it,  if  only  to  have  learned  what  the  orator  authorita- 
tively declared,  that  the  Ministry  intended  to  continue 
the  modifications  of  the  tariff  which  he  had  begun. 
They  had  resolved,  he  said,  to  remove  the  shackles 


134  SPAIN, 

from  commerce  and  production,  and  not  to  protect  the 
one  to  the  destruction  of  the  other.  The  Catalan  Dep- 
uties of  course  cried  aloud,  in  anguish  of  spirit,  at  the 
announcement,  hut  it  was  received  with  great  approba- 
tion by  all  who  were  not  manufacturers  themselves, 
and  had  no  constituents  to  whom  the  abuses  existing 
gave  profits  of  two  hundred  per  cent. 

There  is  no  doubt  that,  if  the  muleteers  w^ere  repre- 
sented, as  a  class,  in  the  Cortes,  there  would  be  great 
indignation  on  the  part  of  their  Deputies  at  the  mention 
of  a  railroad,  or  the  most  delicate  suggestion  of  a  turn- 
pike. The  Asturian  water-carriers,  too,  —  through  their 
honorable  representatives,  if  they  had  such,  —  would 
probably  be  vehement  in  their  denunciation  of  any 
change  in  the  system  of  hydraulics,  now  so  pictu- 
resquely carried  out  by  themselves  with  donkeys  and 
jars.  But  neither  these  good  people  nor  the  Catalonian 
monopolists  have  any  right  to  suppose  that  the  onerous 
absurdities  and  clumsy  customs  of  the  past  will  continue 
for  ever  for  their  benefit,  or  that  Spain  will  be  satis- 
fied to  lie  still,  like  a  leaf  in  an  eddy  by  the  shore, 
while  the  mighty  stream  of  civilization  and  develop- 
ment sweeps  the  rest  of  the  world  along. 


SPAIN.  135 


XIII. 


Sr.  Arrazola.  — Bravo  Murillo.  —  The  Budget.  —  Min- 
isterial Movement.  —  The  Senate.  —  Moderado  Prin- 
ciples.—  Bravo  Murillo's  Speech. 

The  parliamentary  pretensions  of  the  Count  of  San 
Luis  have  been  ah"cady  referred  to.  Don  Lorenzo 
Arrazola,  the  Minister  of  Grace  and  Justice,  had  but 
little  reputation  as  an  orator,  although  he  was  regarded 
as  a  sharp  and  subtle  disputant.  He  was  said  to  be 
particularly  adroit  in  the  defence  of  a  bad  cause,  and 
as  the  government,  his  client,  had  many  such,  his  ser- 
vices were  proportionably  valuable.  Although  he  had 
not  practised  his  profession  to  any  great  extent,  he  cer- 
tainly displayed  the  characteristics  of  a  ready,  clever 
advocate,  full  of  resource,  cunning  of  fence,  and,  like 
many  of  that  class,  not  over  scrupulous,  —  at  all  events, 
in  his  logic.  His  manner  was  not  impressive,  for, 
though  full  of  plausibility,  he  seemed  to  want  convic. 
tion.  In  fact,  the  special  pleading  which  he  was  fre- 
quently driven  to,  and  for  which  he  seemed  to  have 
a  natural  fondness  and  turn,  impaired  the  substantial 
strength   of  his  speeches,  —  as  indeed  it  necessarily 


136  SPAIN. 

must,  without  a  miracle,  destroy  the  vigor  of  any  mind. 
Don  Lorenzo's  aptness  at  finding  excuses  must  have 
been  of  singular  avail  to  him  in  his  particular  Depart- 
ment, —  the  enormous  patronage  of  which,  unless  man- 
aged with  great  adroitness,  was  as  likely  to  make  ene- 
mies as  friends.  I  was  often  interested  and  amused, 
in  his  ante-chamber,  watching  the  countenances  of  the 
numerous  pretendientes  to  whom  he  gave  audience,  — 
almost  all  of  whom  came  out  with  smiling  faces, — 
many  of  them  no  doubt  for  the  hundredth  time.  His 
enemies,  political  and  personal,  of  whom  he  had  many, 
insisted  that  he  was  muy  falso,  marvellously  insincere  ; 
but  that  was  perhaps  more  in  the  trade  and  the  cir- 
cumstances than  the  man.  In  early  life  he  was  report- 
ed to  have  been  a  sacristan,  and  afterwards  a  school- 
master, both  of  which  callings,  the  light  wits  of  the 
opposition  used  to  say,  were  conspicuous  in  his  man- 
ners and  conversation.  Be  that  as  it  may,  however,  he 
was,  when  I  knew  him,  as  he  had  for  some  time  been,  a 
very  notable  person.  He  has  since  been  transferred 
to  a  distinguished  judicial  position,  which  I  have  no 
doubt  he  fills  with  great  respectability. 

In  his  Department,  Sr.  Arrazola  was  a  model  of  in- 
dustry. His  duties,  as  has  been  said,  were  of  the  most 
various  and  complicated  kind,  but  his  activity  and  en- 
ergy kept  pace  with  their  requirements.  No  one,  it  is 
true,  knew  better  than  he  the  virtues  of  that  "  masterly 
inactivity,"  by  which  Spanish  officials  put  an  end, 
without  tangible  offence,  to  solicitations  which  they 
cannot  directly  refuse  to  entertain.  Yet  when  he  in- 
tended to  be  punctual,  or  found  it  necessary,  no  one 
could  be  more    prompt  and  business-like.     His  audi- 


SPAIN.  137 

ences  bejran  at  an  earlier  hour,  and  lasted  longer,  than 
those  of  any  of  his  colleagues.  His  personal  partici- 
pation in  the  labors  of  his  bureau  was  greater  by  far 
than  was  customary  among  personages  of  his  grade, 
and  yet,  even  during  the  sessions  of  the  Cortes,  which 
occupied  him  several  hours  daily,  he  found  leisure  to 
contribute  regularly  to  an  encycloprrdia  of  political 
and  civil  law,  which  was  then  published  periodically  in 
the  capital,  with  the  highest  approbation  of  the  pro- 
fession. When  it  is  borne  in  mind,  that  the  ministerial 
departments  in  Spain  are  very  paradises  of  the  dolce 
far  niente,  —  where  labor  is  so  comfortably  distribut- 
ed, that  its  stages  are  counted  by  the  cigarritos  which 
young  gentlemen  of  spirit  can  demolish  between  a 
very  late  breakfast  and  an  early  dinner  or  earlier  y^nseo, 
—  it  will  not  be  wondered  that  a  man  of  Arrazola's 
habits  and  capacity  for  affairs  should  have  climbed 
with  moderate  luck  to  the  high  places  of  the  state.  A 
genius  for  intrigue  is  no  doubt  an  excellent  item  of 
capital  for  a  politician  ;  charlatanism,  too,  has  frequent- 
ly its  miraculous  uses,  and  a  fortunate  hit  or  a  happy 
accident  will  often  achieve,  in  a  moment,  what  a  lifetime 
of  merit  and  toil  will  end  in  vain  search  of.  In  the  main, 
nevertheless,  —  though  the  notion  may  seem  a  strange 
one,  —  the  surest  method  of  attaining  station  is  to  be, 
in  some  sort,  fit  for  it.  Half  the  pains  men  sometimes 
take  to  pass  themselves  off  for  what  they  are  not,  would 
suffice,  in  many  instances,  to  make  them  what  they 
ought  to  be.  It  must,  upon  the  whole,  be  a  more  costly 
and  laborious  process  to  win  by  cheating,  than  to  lose 
with  unsoilcd  hands.  Whether  Sr.  Arrazoia  embodied 
the  cardinal  virtues  or  not,  can  make  no  difTerence  in  the 
truth  of  these  reflections. 


138  SPAIN. 

Don  Juan  Bravo  Murillo,  the  Minister  of  Finance,  was 
oftener  heard  in  the  Cortes  than  any  of  his  colleagues. 
In  truth,  he  had  no  sinecure  ;  for  money,  which  is  only 
the  root  of  all  evil  elsewhere,  has  in  Spanish  politics 
possession  of  the  whole  tree,  and,  to  be  safely  intrusted 
with  its  cultivation  and  the  gathering  and  keeping  of  its 
golden  apples,  a  man  must  be  of  long  suffering,  as  of 
sharp  eyes  and  busy  hands.  It  is  an  occupation  which 
no  doubt  pays  well,  when  fairly  understood  and  wisely 
exercised,  but  it  has  its  manifold  tribulations,  notwith- 
standing, like  all  other  the  good  things  of  earth.  Every 
one  knows  that  the  Spanish  treasury  has  long  been  free 
from  any  symptoms  of  plethora.  Sr.  Bravo  Murillo 
consequently  found  himself,  like  many  of  his  predeces- 
sors, in  a  quadruple  quandary.  He  had  to  pay  ex- 
penses, and  if  he  did  not  keep  himself  in  funds,  the 
mouths  which  he  left  empty  had  no  other  occupation 
than  to  cry  aloud  and  spare  him  not.  If  he  talked  of 
increasing  the  taxes,  the  voices  of  those  who  were  to 
pay  them,  and  of  all  the  economists  and  calculators 
in  the  Cortes,  were  lifted  up,  in  chorus,  against  him.  If, 
by  way  of  compromising  matters,  he  made  promises,  — 
to  the  hungry,  to  feed  them  when  he  could  get  the 
means,  —  and  to  the  tax-payers,  to  devise  some  scheme 
of  raising  money  without  taxation,  —  he  was  of  course 
called  on  to  redeem  both  promises  at  once,  which  he 
could  not  find  other  than  inconvenient.  If,  in  his  de- 
spair, he  dared  to  name  the  only  possible  mode  of  sal- 
vation, —  the  suppression  of  fiscal  abuses,  the  abolition 
of  useless  offices,  the  reduction  of  overgrown  salaries, 
the  introduction  of  strict,  manly,  prudent  economy 
into  all  branches  of  the  public  service,  —  the  sting  of 


SPAIN.  139 

every  drone  in  llie  hive  pierced  him  at  once,  —  the 
present  and  the  future  were  in  arms  against  him, — 
those  who  had  and  tliose  who  hoped  to  have.  \N'hat 
was  he  to  do,  then  ?  His  estimates  fell  below  his  ne- 
cessities, and  his  collections  were  sure  to  fall  below  his 
estimates.  He  had  no  alternative  left,  but  to  keep  his 
temper,  and  make  speeches, —  which  taxed  nothing 
but  the  public  patience.  The  Progresistas  besieged 
him  in  front,  and  he  returned  their  fire  with  his  best 
battery.  Sr.  Gonzalez  Bravo,  an  enemy  from  the 
Moderado  camp,  gave  him  a  shot  from  the  rear,  and 
Sr.  Bermudez  de  Castro,  Sr.  Moron,  and  others  of  the 
same  political  fellowship,  planted  guns  on  his  flanks. 
He  threw  them  back  ball  for  ball,  and  shell  for  shell. 
His  foes — and  especially  those  of  the  Moderado  op- 
position—  were  not  satisfied  with  attacking  his  views, 
which  were  surely  vulnerable  enough,  but  must  needs 
set  up  theories  and  schemes  of  their  own,  which  were 
perhaps  more  so.  Like  a  prudent  man,  he  immedi- 
ately turned  on  the  offensive,  and  if  he  did  not  succeed 
in  demolishing  the  projects  of  the  adversary,  he  at  least 
withdrew  attention  from  his  own,  which  was  quite  as 
well. 

It  seems  to  me,  that  I  rarely,  during  any  of  my  visits 
to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  escaped  finding  Sr.  Mu- 
rillo,  at  some  time  or  other,  and  for  a  long  time,  on  his 
feet.  His  voice  and  manner  were  so  exceedingly  mo- 
notonous and  invariable,  that  he  appeared  to  be  always 
saying  the  same  thing  in  the  same  way,  —  and,  indeed, 
I  am  hardly,  to  this  day,  sure  that  he  was  not.  Lord 
Castlereagh  and  Moore's  pump  seemed  to  be  his  mod- 
els of  elocution,  and  the  "  cheerful,  voluntary  air"  and 


140  SPAIN. 

virtuous  expression  with  which  he  took  and  gave  his 
blows,  must  have  been  studied  from  EUa's  portrait  of 
the  happy  borrower.  On  one  occasion,  however,  when 
he  had  the  game  in  his  own  hands,  I  heard  him  speak 
out,  boldly,  aggressively,  and  without  reserve.  The 
occasion  and  his  sentiments  will  illustrate  the  reverence 
with  which  constitutional  forms  and  liberal  principles 
were  treated  by  the  Moderados,  when  they  chose  to 
give  themselves  the  rein. 

The  constitution  requires  that  the  j)resupuestos,  or 
financial  estimates,  shall  be  presented  to  the  Cortes,  in 
due  course,  with  the  plan  and  rates  of  taxation  pro- 
posed, for  consideration  and  discussion.  The  govern- 
ment, under  various  pretexts,  had  postponed  the  dis- 
charge of  this  disagreeable  duty  until  the  latest  possible 
day  ;  but  the  budget  had,  at  the  time  I  am  about  to  re- 
fer to,  been  for  some  short  period  in  the  possession  of 
the  legislature.  Several  of  the  Deputies  had  given  notice 
of  their  intention  to  submit  views  and  reports  upon  va- 
rious interesting  points,  and  the  whole  policy  of  the  ad- 
ministration, financial  and  of  all  other  sorts,  had  already 
begun  to  undergo  able  and  critical  examination.  In 
point  of  parliamentary  ability,  the  opposition  had,  un- 
equivocally, the  advantage,  besides  having  the  right,  as 
well  as  the  popular,  side  of  the  principal  questions  in 
controversy.  The  government,  it  is  true,  exercised  ab- 
solute control  over  a  large  and  subservient  majority,  but, 
although  the  legislative  triumph  of  its  measures  was 
thus  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  doubt,  there  was  no 
concealing  the  fact,  that  the  speeches  of  the  opposition 
members  were  producing,  and  were  likely  further  to 
produce,  a  most  serious  impression  on  the  public  mind. 


SPAIN.  in 

This   result  —  the   great  end   and  aim  of  free   discus- 
sion —  it  became   necessary   for  the   administration  to 
avert.     It  could  not  be  prevented  without  a  violation  of 
the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  but  Narvacz  was  not  a  man 
to  be  balked  by  trifles  of  that  sort.    As  usual,  he  spared 
circumlocution  and  pretence,  and  went  directly  to  his 
point.     On  the  8th  of  January,  the  Minister  of  Finance 
made  his  appearance  in  the  Cortes,  in  full  uniform,  and, 
ascending  the  tribune,  read  the  draft  of  a  brief  statute, 
wherein  her  Majesty,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Cortes, 
declared,  in  a  single  clause,  that  the  whole  budget  was 
a  law,  in  the  lump,  as  it  stood,  to  the  same  effect  as  if 
duly  considered  and  adopted  in  each  and  all  of  its  parts. 
The  Chamber  was  taken  aback.     Indignation,  astonish- 
ment, and  denunciation  were  in  the  countenances  and 
on  the  lips  of  the  opposition.    Even  the  trained  bands  of 
the  Ministry  were  staggered  by  the  downright  boldness 
of  the   blow.     But   there  was  no  child's   play  meant. 
The  decree  was  introduced  to  be  adopted,  and  it  was 
soon  understood  that,  when  that  work  should  be  done, 
the  Cortes  were  to  be  prorogued,  with  a  view  to  their 
speedy  dissolution.     The  project  was  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee of  ministerial  partisans,  who,  after  taking  their 
own  time,  reported  it  back  to  the  house,  precisely  as  it 
had    been    given    to    thcin.      Some    of  the    opposition 
presses,  which  took  strong  ground  against  the  outrage, 
had  the  editions  of  their  papers  which  were  most  of- 
fensive suppressed  by  order  of  the  authorities.     In  the 
mean  time,  when  the   prdjcct  came   again   before   the 
house,  a  few  prominent  Deputies  of  the  opposition  were 
allowed,    for    appearance'    sake,    to    deliver   speeches 
a<'ainst  it.     I  had  the  cood  fortune  to  hear  the  most  of 


142  SPAIN. 

them,  and  some  were  singularly  eloquent  and  powerful. 
The  ablest  speakers  on  the  government  side  rejoined, 
and  Narvaez  himself  concluded  the  debate.  By  the 
end  of  the  month,  the  whole  ceremony  was  through,  and 
the  law  passed  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  The 
"  previous  question  "  might  have  done  the  thing  with  a 
little  more  despatch,  and  after  what  we  are  in  the  habit 
of  considering  —  but  why,  I  know  not  —  a  more  re- 
publican manner.  No  process,  however,  which  is 
known  to  legislation.  Eastern  or  Western,  could  have 
compassed  its  object  with  more  perfect  simplicity  and 
success. 

The  Deputies,  having  performed  their  functions,  were 
adjourned,  from  time  to  time,  till  the  Senate  could  give 
its  countersign.  In  that  august,  but  dutiful  body,  the 
result  could  not  be  long  in  doubt ;  but  even  there  the 
government  pursued  its  usual  course,  and  countenanced 
the  forms  of  opposition.  A  few  of  the  refractory 
Senators  were  permitted  to  refresh  themselves  by  say- 
ing what  they  thought,  and  the  coryphaei  of  the  gov- 
ernment did  their  best  to  counteract  the  poison  so  dis- 
seminated. It  was  in  winding  up  on  the  ministerial 
side  of  the  debate,  that  Bravo  Murillo  announced  the 
views  to  which  I  have  alluded. 

"  Senators,"  he  said,  "  talked  of  a  reduction  of  the 
army.  They  forgot  that  armies  were  an  element  of 
primary  importance  in  modern  governments.  All  gov- 
ernment depended  for  its  security  on  one  of  two  things, 
—  the  influence  of  the  clergy,  or  the  military  power. 
Clerical  influence,  the  support  of  the  late  absolute  govern- 
ment in  Spain,  had  been  destroyed,  —  whether  for  good 
or  for  ill  there  was  no  need  that  he  should  say  ;  though, 


SPAIN.  143 

so  far  as  his  own  opinion  was  concermjil,  lie  liad  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  it  was  for  ill.  At  all  events, 
however,  it  existed  no  longer,  and  there  was  nothing 
left  in  its  absence  to  protect  society,  to  maintain  order, 
to  support  government,  but  the  military  arm.  It  was 
useless  to  talk  about  relying  on  the  municipalities,  for 
they  were  not  worthy  of  reliance  ;  and  as  to  the 
national  militia,  it  was  both  costly  and  unsafe.  It  took 
men  from  the  field,  from  the  workshop,  and  from  com- 
merce, —  paralyzing  those  vital  departments  of  indus- 
try, and  putting  arms,  besides,  in  dangerous  hands. 
There  was  nothing  left  but  standing  armies,  —  and 
cuidado  !  let  Senators  bear  in  mind,  that  modern  soci- 
ety, this  society  of  progress,  and  learning,  and  civiliza- 
tion, and  ideas,  is  not  easily  kept  down.  It  requires 
a  larger  force  than  older  societies  needed,  and  if  we 
happen  to  live  in  such  a  state  of  things,  we  must  be 
content  to  meet  the  heavier  obligations  it  imposes." 

He  then  touched  upon  the  subject  of  a  reduction  of 
taxes.  "  As  to  economy,"  he  said,  "  it  was  ridiculous 
to  ask  it  in  the  manner  in  which  it  was  urged.  He  did 
not  and  would  not  pretend  —  he  should  be  disparaging 
himself  were  he  to  pretend  —  that  he  could  reduce  the 
amount  of  contributions  a  single  cuarto.  There  was 
not  one  maravedi  too  much  levied.  The  country  was 
quite  rich  enough  to  bear  the  present  taxes.  It  ought 
to  bear  them,  and  ought  not  to  complain  of  them.  He 
was  willing  and  anxious  to  practise  all  possible  econo- 
my in  the  collection  of  the  revenue,  so  as  to  make  it 
produce  what  it  was  capable  of,  to  the  utmost.  But 
even  in  that  particular  very  little  could  be  done  at  this 
day,  —  very  little  during  this  generation.     He  wished 


144  SPAIN. 

these  tilings  to  be  thoroughly  understood,  so  that  he 
might  not  hereafter  be  reproached  with  creating  false 
hopes  or  making  delusive  promises." 

When  I  looked,  afterwards,  at  the  authorized  reports 
of  this  speech,  I  found  that  its  broad  doctrines  and 
expressions  had  been  so  considerably  modified,  as  to 
render  them  comparatively  unobjectionable.  The  re- 
port, however,  which  I  have  given  above,  is  correct,  to 
my  own  knowledge  ;  for  I  was  so  much  startled  at  the 
bold  avowal  of  such  sentiments,  that  I  took  particular 
note  of  the  speech  on  the  spot.  The  reader  will  ap- 
preciate the  force  of  those  facts  which  refer  to  the 
revenue,  when  he  learns  that  the  estimates  for  1849- 
50  were  about  twelve  hundred  millions  of  reals,  or 
sixty  millions  of  dollars  !  Sr.  Lopez  stated  in  the 
debate,  without  contradiction,  that  the  cost  of  collect- 
ing was  about  twenty-one  per  cent.  ;  so  that,  to  realize 
what  the  Ministry  asserted  was  the  lowest  amount  of 
indispensable  expenditure  on  the  part  of  the  central 
government,  the  nation  required  to  be  taxed  at  least 
seventy  millions  of  dollars.  "  It  was  certainly  con- 
soling to  the  present  generation  to  know,"  said  Sr. 
Lopez,  "  and  he  thanked  the  Minister  for  his  kindness 
in  telling  them,  that  things  might  possibly  be  better,  after 
all  who  were  now  living  had  passed  away  from  taxes 
and  tax-gatherers."  Justice  to  Sr.  Murillo,  however, 
makes  it  proper  to  add,  that  his  subsequent  financial 
measures  have  displayed  ability  and  wisdom,  and  have 
given  a  new  and  vigorous  impulse  to  public  confidence 
and  private  enterprise. 


SPAIN. 


115 


XIV. 


Geverai.  Figuer\s.  —  T?oc\  t>e  Togores.  —  Alexandre 
Dumas.  —  Southern  Oratory.  —  Olozaga.  —  Escosura. 
—  Benavides.  —  DoNOso  Cortes.  —  Their  Speeches. 

The  other  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  without 
any  particular  parliamentary  celebrity  that  I  am  aware 
of,  and  I  seldom  found  any  of  them  upon  the  floor, 
except  the  ci-devant.  General  Figucras,  Marquis  of 
Constancia,  and  then  Secretary  at  War.  He  was  a 
bright-looking,  combustible  old  gentleman,  who  made 
it  a  point  to  be  chivalric  and  excited  whenever  the 
sanctity  of  his  Department  was  invaded  by  rude  ques- 
tionings ;  and  as  the  extent  and  expense  of  the  military 
establishment  were  matters  of  daily  comment  in  the 
Cortes,  the  silken  banners  of  his  eloquence  had  no 
occasion  to  feed  the  moth.  A  man  in  a  passion,  how- 
ever, though  perhaps  more  or  less  dangerous  in  a  per- 
sonal point  of  view,  is  not  usually  elTcctive  as  an  ora- 
tor, and  it  consequently  happened  that  the  gallant  Mar- 
quis rarely  rose  to  speak  without  putting  the  house 
in  a  good  humor,  though  he  generally  seemed  to  be 
in  a  very  bad  one  himself.     Yet  his  discourses,  though 

10 


146  SPAIN. 

fiery,  were  but  "  brief  candles,"  and  for  this,  at  all 
events,  his  style  deserves  to  be  praised  a  good  deal 
more  than  it  is  likely  to  be  imitated. 

The  Minister  of  Marine  Affairs,  the  Marquis  of  Mo- 
lins,  under  his  original  and  more  euphonius  name  of 
Roca  de  Togores,  had  acquired  considerable  reputation 
as  a  poet  and  man  of  letters.  He  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  be  a  friend  of  Alexandre  Dumas,  who  called 
him  "  Rocca,"  and  pronounced  him  "  one  of  the  first 
poets,  and  most  spirituel  men  of  Spain."  Nay,  more, 
the  illustrious  author  of  the  "  Impressions  "  did  not 
hesitate  to  prophesy  that  "  Rocca  "  would  be  a  Minis- 
ter if  he  lived,  —  just  as  their  common  friend,  the  Duke 
of  Osuna,  might  at  any  time  have  been,  had  his  tastes 
carried  him  that  way.  It  may  be,  that,  from  this  in- 
dorsement of  his  merits,  the  Marquis  of  Molins  is 
known  the  better  beyond  the  limits  of  his  country  ; 
but  as  M.  Dumas  did  not  understand  one  word  of 
Spanish,  and  the  Duke  of  Osuna  (rest  his  soul  !)  had 
no  promptings  from  his  genius  to  be  any  thing  but  a 
jockey,  the  Marquis  himself  could  hardly  have  felt 
much  complimented  by  his  friend's  appreciation  of  his 
abilities,  literary  or  political.  The  prophecy  neverthe- 
less came  true,  and  before  the  travels  of  Dumas  were 
given  to  the  world,  "  Rocca  "  was  intrusted  with  the 
control  of  a  Department,  whose  ancient  glories  might 
have  fed  his  loftiest  inspiration,  as  its  actual  exigencies 
taxed  his  utmost  ingenuity.  I  may  have  occasion  to 
speak  of  the  impulse  which  the  navy  received  under 
his  administration.  His  parliamentary  career  was  with- 
out interest,  during  the  opportunities  I  had  of  observ- 
ing it. 


SPAIN.  ]  17 

The  reader  would  hardly  care  to  know,  with  any 
particularity,  the  manner  or  merits  of  the  various  mem- 
bers of  the  Cortes,  who,  with  more  or  less  ability  and 
domestic  reputation,  took  part  in  the  debates  I  wit- 
nessed. A  traveller  belonging  to  a  more  impassible 
and  less  demonstrative  race  can  scarcely  be  consid- 
ered a  fair  critic  of  Southern  eloquence,  until  custom 
has  familiarized  him  with  its  peculiarities.  The  vivaci- 
ty and  earnestness  which  an  excitable  nature  imparts, 
even  to  ordinaiy  conversation,  are  of  course  lieight- 
encd  by  the  intenser  stimulus  and  more  elevated  sub- 
jects of  public  discussion,  and  the  style  and  gesture  of 
the  speaker  thus  appear,  to  unfamiliar  eyes  and  ears, 
sometimes  extravagant,  if  not  unnatural.  We  forget 
that  the  defect  may  be  in  our  standard,  not  in  the  thing 
we  judge.  We  forget  that  our  nature  is  not  all  of  na- 
ture,—  that  our  enthusiasm  seems  as  cold  to  an  Italian 
or  a  Spaniard,  as  his  lightest  expression  of  emotion 
seems  overdone  to  us.  Friends,  parted  for  a  little 
while,  in  those  more  genial  climates,  rush,  when  they 
meet  again,  into  each  other's  arms,  though  all  the  world 
be  looking  on.  Among  "  the  natives  of  the  moral  North," 
the  rare  caress  is  made  almost  a  household  secret;  the 
most  sincere  and  deep  emotion  seems  most  ashamed 
to  show  itself,  sometimes  even  to  its  object.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  determine  under  which  manner  lies,  in 
general,  the  truer  and  intenser  heart.  It  may  be  that 
feelings,  like  odors,  are  wasted  by  diffusion ;  or  that, 
like  colors,  they  fade  from  too  constant  exposure.  There 
is  no  doubt,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  systematic  re- 
straint of  emotion,  or  of  its  display,  has  sometimes  the 
effect  of  deadening,  if  not  destroying,  it  at  last.     Na- 


148  SPAIN. 

ture  has  probably  some  scheme  of  compensation  by 
which  she  equalizes  tlie  substance  without  reference  to 
the  forms. 

But,  let  the  thing  signified  be  as  it  may,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  signs  are  constitutionally  and 
naturally  different.  Every  man  feels  it,  every  man 
under  its  influence  is  prompted  to  pronounce  unnatural 
what  comes  in  conflict  with  the  habits  of  his  nature,  or 
the  seeming  nature  given  him  by  education.  The 
reader,  who,  without  previous  experience  and  prepara- 
tion, may  have  visited  the  Stanze  of  Raphael  in  the 
Vatican,  can  scarcely  fail  to  remember  how  this  feeling 
modified  his  first  impressions  of  delight  and  wonder. 
The  lofty  attitudes  and  gesture,  the  gorgeous  coloring, 
heroic  mien,  and  bold,  broad  drapery,  seemed  to  him, 
doubtless,  for  a  while,  theatrical  and  overwrought.  It 
needed  reflection  and  habit,  and  some  sympathy  with 
the  true  soul  of  art,  to  teach  him  that  he  was  measur- 
ing by  the  scale  of  his  dull  organs,  his  colder  tempera- 
ment, and  unkindled  taste,  what  was  addressed  to  the 
sensibilities  of  a  more  voluptuous  fibre,  to  feelings  of  a 
warmer  birth,  and  minds  of  which  imagination  is  the 
mould.  The  same  process  of  criticism  which  made 
him  halt  in  his  admiration  would  take  away  from  Ori- 
ental fancy  every  thing  but  its  grotesqueness,  —  would 
make  Ariosto  a  retailer  of  enchanted  follies,  Dante  a 
madman,  and  Calderon  a  rhapsodist.  The  influences 
which  fill  the  bright  air  of  the  South  with  birds  of  va- 
rious and  splendid  plumage,  —  which  hang  the  fruit  of 
gold  on  the  ungrafted  boughs,  and  cover  the  unculti- 
vated fields  with  miraculous  bloom  and  fragrance, — 
give  to  the  thoughts  and  fancies  springing  'mid  them  the 


SPAIN.  149 

same  luxuriance  and  clow.  It  is  not  in  the  coMor  zones 
that  we  can  learn  to  sympathize  with  these.  The  hands 
which  clipped  the  orange-gardens  at  Versailles  were 
hardly  fit  to  paint  the  prodigality  of  Cintra. 

I  would  not  by  any  means  be  understood,  from 
the  turn  of  the  preceding  reflections,  as  meaning  to 
institute  a  comparison  of  excellence  between  the  ora- 
tory of  the  Spanish  legislative  assemblies  and  that 
of  similar  bodies  in  other  nations.  I  have  simply 
designed  to  suggest  that  they  are  different  things,  reg- 
ulated by  canons  widely  different.  I  merely  depre- 
cate the  criticism  which  regards  their  natural  dissim- 
ilarity  as  a  ground  of  objection  to  that  style  with  which 
the  critic  is  least  familiar.  It  may  be,  perhaps,  from 
some  lack  of  catholicity  in  my  own  taste,  that  I  thought 
the  Spanish  speakers  often  weakened  the  effect,  and 
marred  in  some  particulars,  in  the  delivery,  the  grace 
of  their  most  eloquent  discourses.  Their  utterance, 
for  example,  was  frequently  so  rapid,  as  to  convey 
a  painful  idea  of  effort  and  haste ;  their  gestures, 
almost  universally,  had  the  frequency  and  quickness  of 
e.xcited  conversation,  rather  than  the  bold  dignity  of 
high  passion.  I  was  not,  it  is  true,  fortunate  enough  to 
hear  some  whose  reputations  placed  them  in  the  highest 
rank.  Martinez  de  la  Rosa  —  probably,  on  the  whole, 
the  first  orator  of  Spain,  despite  his  age  —  was  absent 
as  Ambassador  at  Rome.  His  rival,  Galiano,  to  whom 
I  shall  refer  hereafter,  did  not  speak  in  the  Cortes,  to 
my  knowledge,  during  my  residence  in  Madrid.  Sr. 
Olozaga,  one  of  the  heads  of  the  Progresistas, — deemed 
by  many  the  most  accomplished  speaker  among  the 
Deputies,  and  certainly  endowed  with  physical  and  men- 


150  SPAIN. 

tal  gifts,  such  as  might  well  command  a  senate,  —  took 
little  part  in  the  debates  of  the  session.  I  lost  by  ac- 
cident the  only  chance  I  had  of  hearing  him,  at  any 
length,  on  an  occasion  which  elicited  his  powers.  It 
was  a  source  of  the  more  regret  to  me,  from  the 
fact  that  he  is  a  Castilian,  which  few  of  the  most  prom- 
inent speakers  are,  and  not  only  possesses  the  language 
in  its  utmost  purity  of  pronunciation  and  construction, 
but  in  his  manner  illustrates  the  gravity  and  dignity  of 
the  national  style  in  its  best  type. 

Of  those  whom  I  heard  in  the  Cortes,  the  most  at- 
tractive orator  to  me  was  Don  Patricio  de  la  Escosura, 
—  certainly  I  have  listened  to  very  few,  anywhere, 
with  as  much  gratification.  He  had  not  long  returned 
to  Spain,  under  the  amnesty  of  1849, — having  fled  to 
France  with  Olozaga,  under  sentence  of  banishment  to 
the  Philippine  Islands,  after  the  suppression  of  the  Ma- 
drid insurrection,  in  1848.  That  abortive  outbreak  the 
government  insisted  on  considering  as  the  joint  work  of 
the  Progresislas  and  Sir  Henry  Bulwer;  and  when 
Narvaez  made  bold  to  dismiss  the  plenipotentiary  of  one 
of  the  most  powerful  nations  of  Europe,  for  that  cause, 
he  was  not  in  a  vein  to  lay  light  hands  on  the  leaders  of 
his  domestic  opposition.  That,  with  a  knowledge  of 
the  parliamentary  abilities  of  the  two  gentlemen  re- 
ferred to,  he  should  have  permitted  them  to  return  to 
their  country  and  the  public  councils,  speaks  loudly  for 
his  confidence  and  courage,  though  perhaps  not  less 
for  his  sagacity  under  the  circumstances.  Nothing  can 
be  more  popular  than  magnanimity,  with  a  chivalrous 
nation,  —  nay,  with  the  people  at  large,  in  any  nation  ; 
and    when  a  ruler  has  strength  enough  to  practise   it, 


SPAIN.  151 

ho  must  be  very  unwise  if  he  permits  liimsclf  to  lose 
the  opportunity.  But  if  Narvaez  found  the  amnesty 
politic  on  the  whole,  Escosura's  speeches  must  cer- 
tainly have  satisfied  him  that  the  good  was  not  unqual- 
ified. The  tribulation  through  which  Don  Patricio  had 
passed  had  not  bent  the  independence  of  his  mind  or 
speech.  His  denunciations  were  so  glittering,  his 
satire  was  so  keen,  his  style  so  graceful,  his  manner 
so  eflective,  that  the  ministerial  benches  often  echoed 
the  plaudits  of  the  opposition.  I  have  seen  even  Nar- 
vaez smile  with  genuine  delight,  at  some  pointed,  happy 
hits  of  his,  and  have  heard  him  cry  out"J5^e«.'"  en- 
thusiastically, at  some  eloquent  apostrophe.  Besides 
being  one  of  the  most  graceful  poets  and  scholars  of 
his  nation,  Escosura  had  high  personal  gifts  as  a  speaker. 
He  was  in  the  prime  of  life,  with  a  good  figure  and 
attractive  face.  His  voice  was  soft  and  musical,  with 
an  occasional  tremor  in  it,  which  carried  his  pathos  to 
the  heart.  His  bolder  tones  were  clear  and  ringing, 
and  his  articulation,  even  when  most  rapid  and  excited, 
was  perfectly  distinct.  His  humorous  and  histrionic 
powers,  which  were  considerable,  were  managed  with 
great  adroitness,  and  enabled  him  to  barb  and  point  an 
insinuation,  in  a  manner  which  I  have  never  seen  sur- 
passed. Every  speech  that  he  made  enhanced  his 
reputation,  and  so  attractive  were  the  qualities  of  his 
character  esteemed,  that  the  name  which  he  was  build- 
ing did  not  seem  to  cast  one  envious  shadow. 

Among  the  Moderado  opposition,  although  there 
were  several  able  men  and  effective  speakers,  the  most 
formidable  to  the  government  was  Don  Antonio  Bena- 
vides,  a  deputy  from  the  district  of  Jaen.     This  gentle- 


152 


SPAIN. 


man  had  been  in  power  himself,  was  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  ministerial  ways  of  doing  things,  and 
possessed  great  familiarity  with  public  affairs.  His  ora- 
torical aspirations  were  by  no  means  high,  but  he  was 
a  capital  debater,  in  the  business-like  and  best  sense  of 
the  term.  He  carried  into  the  parliamentary  strug- 
gle a  mind  which  was  quick  and  versatile,  at  the  same 
time  that  it  was  comprehensive  and  well  poised.  He 
was  full  of  historical  philosophy,  but  it  was  of  the  prac- 
tical sort,  and  he  had  a  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  which 
enabled  him  constantly  to  place  in  most  amusing  and 
resistless  contrast  the  professions  and  practices  of  the 
administration.  His  cool  dexterity  and  admirable  tem- 
per were  proof  against  ministerial  interruptions  and 
arrogance,  as  well  as  the  embarrassments  which  the 
chair  threw,  as  often  as  possible,  in  his  way.  He  could 
always  manage  to  have  the  last  word,  when  he  wanted 
it,  and  never  took  it  without  making  it  tell.  He  could 
throw  an  argument  into  a  personal  explanation,  in  spite 
of  the  rules  of  order  and  the  President ;  and  even  ven- 
tured a  gibe,  when  it  served  his  turn,  at  the  inviolable 
person  of  the  Prime  Minister.  His  pleasantry  was  too 
attractive  for  even  the  firmest  of  the  ministerial  adher- 
ents to  be  above  its  influence  ;  and  as  nothing  is  so  dan- 
gerous as  laughter  to  pasteboard  greatness,  it  was  in 
this  point  of  view,  perhaps,  that  he  was  most  obnoxious 
to  the  administration.  "  The  honorable  Deputy,"  said 
Sartorius  of  him  one  day,  "  has  caused  great  merri- 
ment by  his  observations.  It  may  be  a  question,  how- 
ever, whether  a  gentleman  has  reason  to  congratulate 
himself,  because  his  rising  to  speak  in  the  councils  of 
his  country  is  but  the  signal  for  a  general  smile." 


SPAIN. 


153 


"  Blame  mc  not,  sir,"  was  the  reply,  "  for  the  hilarity 
Avhich  these  details  may  have  provoked  in  the  chamber. 
I  do  not  invent, —  I  only  describe.  If  things  are  ridic- 
ulous, it  is  the  fault  of  those  who  make  them  so.  I  crave 
your  pardon,  sir,  for  the  presumption  of  my  illustration, 
but  I  have  never  heard  that  Moliere  was  responsible  for 
human  meanness  and  hypocrisy,  because  he  made  them 
pal  liable  in  Tartuffe  and  the  Avare." 

A  single  expression,  in  one  of  the  speeches  of  Bena- 
vides,  did  more  to  alFect  the  popularity  of  a  prominent 
government  measure  than  it  is  easy  to  conceive,  where 
the  appreciation  and  influence  of  humor  are  less  univer- 
sal and  decided  than  in  Spain.  For  some  reason,  not 
very  comprehensible,  a  law  was  introduced  to  change 
the  whole  system  of  fiscal  and  civil  administration  in 
the  provinces,  by  removing  the  Intendants  and  Political 
Chiefs,  and  creating  a  class  of  officers  called  Provincial 
Governors,  in  their  stead.  For  some  other  reason, 
equally  unintelligible,  but  probably  much  more  nearly 
connected  with  personal  interests  and  the  dispensa- 
tion of  patronage  than  with  the  welfare  of  the  cap- 
ital or  the  nation,  it  was  proposed  that  Madrid  should 
be  made  an  exception,  —  retaining  her  Intendente  and 
Jcfe  Politico  after  the  old  fashion.  There  was  a 
good  deal  of  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  this  anom- 
aly,—  no  one  appearing  to  understand  why,  if  the 
system  were  vicious,  as  the  government  had  taken 
pains  to  demonstrate,  one  part  of  it  should  be  perpet- 
uated any  more  than  the  rest.  Benavides  explained. 
"  The  offices  in  question  are  to  be  preserved,"  he  said, 
"as  part  of  the  historical  monuments  of  the  capital. 
Posterity  must  learn  that  we  have  had  Political  Chiefs 


154  SPAIN. 

in  Spain,  ^  yea,  and  Intendants  also  !  They  are  twin 
unities  not  known  to  other  governments,  and  their  mem- 
ory should  not  be  lost  among  men.  The  admiration  of 
the  future,  which  would  have  been  wasted  among  so 
many,  will  be  concentrated  now  on  the  solitary  speci- 
mens that  survive.  Men  will  not  speak  hereafter  of  the 
Jefe  Politico  of  Madrid,  —  the  Madrid  Intendente,  — 
but  the  Jefe  Politico,  —  the  Intendente  !  They  will 
be  handed  over  to  the  grammatical  treasury  of  nouns 
that  have  no  plural !  They  will  keep  company  with 
the  Holy  Father  and  the  Ship  Soberano,  —  the  persons 
and  things  whereof  there  is  but  one  !  "  The  quiet  but 
unequivocal  allusion  in  the  last  expression  to  the  fact 
that  the  administration  had  allowed  the  navy  to  remain 
with  but  one  old  damaged  ship  of  the  line,  while  the 
treasures  of  the  nation  were  lavished  in  the  mainte- 
nance of  an  army  at  Rome,  struck  a  chord  which  vi- 
brated through  the  house  and  the  whole  city.  Sarto- 
rius  endeavored  to  counteract  its  effect,  by  giving  an 
acrimonious  and  personal  turn  to  the  debate  ;  but  Bena- 
vides  rejoined  in  a  few  graceful  and  good-humored 
words,  which  fixed  the  laugh  where  he  had  left  it. 

The  advantage,  in  point  of  parliamentary  ability, 
being,  as  has  been  said,  on  the  side  of  the  opposition, 
Donoso  Cortes,  Marquis  of  Valdegamas,  and  then  Min- 
ister at  Berlin,  was  allowed  leave  of  absence  from  his 
diplomatic  post,  to  discharge  his  duties  in  the  Cortes,  as 
one  of  the  Deputies  from  the  district  of  Badajoz.  Be- 
sides being  a  poet  of  very  distinguished  reputation,  this 
gentleman  had  entered  of  late,  with  great  success,  upon 
the  career  of  politics,  and  had  become  one  of  the 
most    eminent   of   the   Modcrado    orators  and  states- 


SPAIN.  155 

men.  lie  was  regarded,  at  home  and  in  France, 
as  a  person  of  very  profound  pliilosopliy  in  things 
political,  and  of  great  sublimity  in  his  views  and  theo- 
ries generally.  The  post  of  honor,  therefore,  was 
given  to  him,  in  the  debate  on  the  pj-esupuestos,  and  he 
immediately  preceded  Narvaez,  by  whom,  as  has  been 
said,  the  discussion  was  concluded.  Great  expectations 
were  formed  of  his  effort,  and  crowds  went  to  hear  it. 
The  newspapers  glorified  it  exceedingly  ;  the  Puerta  del 
Sol  echoed  its  praises ;  and  when  I  saw  the  orator, 
three  nights  afterwards,  at  a  ball,  he  was  still  receiving 
congratulations,  like  a  bridegroom  in  the  first  quarter  of 
the  honey  moon.  It  was  a  singular  discourse, —  full  of 
thought  and  power,  rhapsody  and  rant,  —  illustrating 
in  itself,  as  well  as  in  the  sensation  which  it  produced, 
the  reverence  for  French  ideas,  principles,  and  forms, 
in  which  the  Moderado  dynasty  has  almost  merged  the 
nationality  of  Spain. 

Originally,  with  his  political  fortunes  to  seek,  Donoso 
Cortes  was  a  liberal,  in  no  narrow  signification  of  the 
term.  Created  a  ^larquis,  —  which  seems  to  be  a  dig- 
nity specially  coveted  by  the  Moderados,  —  he  naturally 
enough  took  to  conservatism,  and,  being  on  excellent 
terms  with  those  in  power,  he  felt  still  more  deeply  — 
as  gentlemen  in  such  case  always  do  —  the  absolute 
necessity  of  maintaining  the  social  and  established  order. 
His  school  of  poetry,  indeed,  —  which  is  the  romantic,  — 
inclined  him  to  invest  with  reverent  and  mystic  awe  the 
sacred  rulers  of  mankind  ;  and  that  inclination  was  not 
likely  to  be  diminished  by  the  fact,  that  the  poet  imag- 
ined he  could  see  the  wand  of  state  hidden  among  his 
own  laurels.     Having  had  no  practical  experience  in 


156  SPAIN. 

government,  and  but  little  opportunity  to  watch  the 
operation  of  systems  genuinely  constitutional,  he  had 
to  seek  what  he  could  find  in  books.  The  affinities  of 
party  led  him  towards  the  oracles  at  Paris,  and  his  own 
mental  constitution  taught  him  to  prefer  their  eloquent 
abstractions  to  the  practical  and  plainer  lessons  of 
British  and  American  example.  Even  among  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  doctrines  which  he  professed,  his  peculiar 
tendency  was  to  romanticize  and  Germanize.  It  was 
his  taste  to  vaticinate  like  Lamartine,  and  crusade  with 
the  sacerdotalism  of  Montalembert,  rather  than  follow 
the  severe  analysis  and  unequalled  generalization  of  De 
Tocqueville  and  Guizot.  Like  all  abstractionists,  and 
particularly  the  poetical,  he  frequently  fell  into  the  vice 
of  mistaking  words  for  ideas,  and  of  setting  up  as  phi- 
losophy what  was  simply  phraseology.  His  speeches 
and  writings,  however,  were,  as  I  have  said,  considered 
by  the  mass  as  both  profound  and  sublime.  Philo- 
sophical forms  and  processes  are,  in  themselves,  of 
great  edification  and  refreshment  to  many  readers  and 
hearers,  and  when  they  are  accompanied  by  a  certain 
warmth  and  earnestness  of  imagination  and  expression 
are  often  none  the  less  popular  from  having  nothing  in 
them.  The  speech  of  Valdcgamas,  on  the  occasion 
referred  to,  was  so  characteristic  of  his  own  peculiari- 
ties, and  furnishes  so  curious  a  clew  to  the  political  doc- 
trines and  tendencies  of  his  party,  that  it  deserves  a 
paragraph  or  two  as  a  pendant  to  the  Senatorial  ef- 
fort of  the  Minister  of  Finance. 

The  question  before  the  house  was  a  very  simple 
one.  The  Constitution  required  the  budget  to  be  sub- 
mitted  to  the   Cortes,    for  the   purpose,  obviously,    of 


SPAIN.  157 

examination  and  discussion.  The  government,  liowevcr, 
proposed  that  its  whole  linancial  policy  and  projcl,  \\m3 
submitted,  should  be  indorsed  and  adopted  at  once, 
without  further  debate.  It  was  a  plain  question  of  ex- 
pediency,—  not  of  constitutionality.  It  would  have 
been  folly  to  suppose  that  the  constitution  intended 
to  compel  inquiry,  when  the  representatives  of  the  peo- 
ple desired  none  ;  or  to  enforce  discussion,  when  they 
found  nothing  to  discuss.  It  was  for  the  legislature, 
under  a  due  sense  of  public  duty,  to  determine  as  to 
the  propriety  of  the  thing  ;  but,  that  determination  once 
arrived  at,  there  could  be  no  rational  doubt  of  the 
lecislative  rij;ht  to  act  on  it,  or  of  the  constitutional 
legitimacy  and  obligation  of  such  action.  It  was  to  this 
view  of  the  case  that  Olozaga  and  Escosura  directed 
themselves,  and  it  was  in  reducing  and  confining  the 
controversy  to  this  issue,  after  a  long  and  discursive 
debate,  that  Narvaez  displayed  the  clearness  and  direct- 
ness of  his  acute  and  vigorous  mind. 

The  Marquis  of  Yaldegamas,  on  the  contrary,  ap- 
peared to  consider  the  whole  politics  of  Europe  as 
involved  in  the  question,  which  he  chose  to  treat  as  a 
trial  of  strencth  between  monarchy  and  socialism.  Af- 
ter  the  fashion  of  the  French  conservative  orators,  he 
assumed  socialism  and  democracy  to  be  identical. 
Economical  questions  he  then  anathematized  as  among 
the  most  wicked  and  pernicious  devices  which  the 
Tempter  had  taught  the  socialists ;  and  proceeded  with 
great  gravity  to  jjrove,  after  his  manner,  that  financial 
economy,  though  quite  an  interesting  matter,  was  still 
only  of  third  or  fourth  rate  importance,  —  that  it  was 
too  inflammatory  a  subject  to  be  handled  at  that  mo- 


158  SPAIN. 

ment,  and  was  indeed  rather  difficult  to  dispose  of  sat- 
isfactorily at  any  time.  The  last  of  these  propositions, 
at  all  events,  might  have  been  proved  without  any  un- 
usual exertion ;  but  the  orator  had  no  idea  of  letting 
it  pass  into  the  ranks  of  things  established,  without 
something  more  than  the  ordinary  treatment  of  plain 
truths. 

"The  nation  is  not  firm,"  he  said,  "Since  that 
epoch  of  tremendous  memory  (the  last  French  Revo- 
lution) there  has  been  nothing  firm  in  Europe.  Spain 
is  the  firmest  of  the  nations,  and  you  see  what  Spain  is. 
This  Congress  is  the  best,  and  yet  you  see  what  this 
Congress  is.  Spain,  wavering  as  you  behold  her,  is  at 
this  moment  to  the  Continent  as  an  oasis  in  Zahara. 
I  have  talked  with  the  wise,  and  have  seen  how  worth- 
less is  wisdom.  I  have  listened  to  the  valiant,  and 
have  learned  the  insignificance  of  valor  now.  I  have 
appealed  to  the  prudent,  and  have  found  how  weak,  in 
the  emergency,  is  prudence  !  It  seems  as  if  the  states- 
men of  Europe  had  lost  the  gift  of  counsel.  Human 
reason  is  in  eclipse, -r-  human  institutions  tremble  in  the 
wind,  —  nations  are  precipitated  into  sudden  and  mighty 

downfall At  this  day,  over  the  whole  continent, 

all  paths  —  even  the  most  opposite  —  conduct  but  to 
perdition.  Here,  resistance  destroys  ;  there,  concession 
is  fatal.  Where  weakness  is  death,  there  are  weak 
princes.  Where  ambition  is  ruin,  there  are  ambitious 
princes.  Where  perdition  shall  come  of  talent,  there 
God  has  given  ability  to  kings.  As  it  is  with  monarchs, 
so  is  it  with  ideas.  The  most  magnificent  and  the 
vilest  have  the  same  results.  If  you  doubt  it,  turn 
your  eyes  towards  Paris  and  towards  Venice,  and  be- 


SPAIN.  159 

liolcl  what  has  come  of  clemagogism,  ami  wliat  has 
come  of  the  superb  idea  of  Italian  independence  !  As 
with  ideas  and  with  monarchs,  so  is  it  with  other  men. 
Where  one  man  could  save  society,  that  man  exists 
not ;  or,  if  he  does  exist,  God  scatters  some  poison 
for  him  in  the  air.  Where  one  man  can  overturn  so- 
ciety, that  man  appears,  —  that  man  is  borne  aloft  upon 
the  palms  of  men,  —  tliat  man  finds  every  road  open 
and  level  before  him.  Do  you  question  it?  Look  from 
the  tomb  of  Marshal  Bugeaud  to  the  throne  of  Maz- 
zini  !  As  it  is  with  ideas,  and  kings  and  other  men, 
so  it  is  with  parties Where  the  salvation  of  so- 
ciety depends  on  the  dissolution  of  old  parties,  and 
their  amalgamation  into  new  ones,  there  parties  re- 
fuse to  be  dissolved,  and  are  not  dissolved.  This  is 
what  happens  now  in  France Where  the  salva- 
tion of  society  appeals  to  parties,  —  that  they  cling  to 
their  old  banners,  —  that  they  tear  not  their  bosoms, 

—  that  they  keep  themselves  together,  and  fight  to- 
gether, in  great  and  noble  battles,  —  w^here  all  this  is 
needful,  as  in  Spain,  that  society  may  live,  —  there  — 
here  —  do  parties  leap  to  dissolution  ! Gentle- 
men !  the  true  cause  of  the  deep  and  awful  evil  with 
which  Europe  is  overwhelmed  is  this  alone,  —  that  the 
idea  of  divine  authority  and  of  human  authority  has 
altogether  disappeared.     This  is  what  scourges  Europe, 

—  what  scourges  society,  —  what  afflicts  the  world, — 
and  it  is  from  this  that  nations  have  become  ungovern- 
able. It  is  this  that  explains  what  I  have  never  heard 
explained,  and  what  nevertheless  is  of  easy  explana- 
tion  

"  All  who  have  travelled  through  France  agree  in 


160  SPAIN. 

sayincr  that  you  cannot  meet  a  Frenchman  who  is  a 
republican.  I  can  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  this, 
for  I  have  just  passed  through  France.  Why  then, 
and  how  then,  is  it,  if  there  be  no  republicans,  that  the 
republic  exists  ?  The  republic  exists  in  France  —  nay, 
it  will  continue  to  exist —  because  the  republican  is  the 
necessary  fonn  of  government  among  a  people  who  are 
ungovernable.  Where  the  people  are  not  to  be  ruled, 
government  necessarily  takes  the  republican  shape. 
And  this  is  why  the  republic  subsists  and  will  subsist  in 
France.  Little  matters  it  whether  the  republic  be,  as  it 
is,  resisted  by  the  will  of  men,  if  it  be  upheld,  as  it  is, 
by  the  very  necessity  of  things  !  " 

Having  spoken  of  human  and  divine  authority  as 
equally  forgotten  in  the  world,  the  orator  proceeded  to 
anticipate  and  meet  the  question  as  to  the  connection 
that  exists  between  politics  and  religion.  He  attributed 
to  "  civilization  "  two  phases,  —  the  one  affirmative  and 
catholic,  the  other  negative  and  revolutionary.  The 
former  established  three  affirmations,  religious  and 
political.  The  first  of  these  was  the  existence  of  a 
God  and  of  a  king;  the  second,  the  dominion  of  God 
over  all  things,  and  of  the  king  over  his  realm  ;  the 
third,  the  exercise  of  that  dominion,  by  actual  govern- 
ment, in  both  cases.  Civilization,  in  its  revolutionary 
phase,  presented  three  negations :  first,  that  of  the 
deist,  who  denied  the  providence  of  God,  and  that  of 
the  constitutional  monarchist,  who  denied  to  the  king 
tVie  exercise  of  his  dominion  ;  second,  that  of  the  pan- 
theist, whose  political  correlative  was  the  republican  ; 
and  third,  that  of  the  atheist,  whose  yoke-fellow  was 
of  course  the  socialist.     The  good  and  perfect  Chris- 


SPAIN.  I'll 

tian,  it  is  needless  to  say,  was  matclifd  with  the  lcf.'iti- 
mist  and  the  ahsolutist.  "  Europe,"  cried  the  philos- 
opher, "  has  entered  upon  the  second  negation,  and 
is  striding  towards  the  third,  which  is  the  last, —  the 
abyss, —  beyond  which  is  darkness  only." 

It  would  be  tedious,  though  very  curious,  to  follow 
the  speaker  through  the  extraordinary  processes  by 
which  he  showed,  that,  from  this  impending  catastrophe, 
Catholicity  and  standing  armies  were  the  only  asylums 
of  refuge.  Russia,  he  asserted,  was  at  present  power- 
less, because  she  had  only  wrought  on  Europe  hereto- 
fore through  the  Germanic  Confederation,  which  had 
now  ceased  to  exist,  or  rather  passed  into  chaos.  It 
might  be,  he  said,  that  after  revolutions  had  dissolved 
society  and  dispersed  its  standing  armies,  and  after 
Socialism  had  destroyed  patriotism  by  destroying  prop- 
erty, Russia  might  sweep,  with  her  Sclavonic  millions, 
in  wild  triumph  over  Europe.  Only  England  could 
avert  this,  in  any  case  ;  but  England,  alas  !  lacked 
Catholicity,  without  which  there  could  be  no  victory  in 
such  a  contest !  "  I  say.  Sir,"  he  exclaimed,  "  that 
Catholicity  is  the  only  remedy  against  Socialism,  be- 
cause Catholicity  involves  the  only  doctrine  which  is 
the  absolute  contradiction  of  Socialism.  What  is  Cath- 
olicity .''  It  is  wisdom  and  humility.  What  is  Social- 
ism .''  It  is  pride  and  barbarism.  Like  the  Babyloni- 
an king,  it  is  at  once  king  and  beast." 

Then  followed  a  demonstration  of  the  costliness  of 
republics,  and  the  cheapness  of  despotisms.  Standing 
armies,  it  was  asserted,  were  in  fact  the  only  cheap 
machinery  of  government.  This  led  to  a  parallel, 
touching  and  eloquent  in  some  of  its  passages,  between 
11 


162  SPAIN. 

the  soldier  and  the  priest,  but  in  which  I  am  afraid  the 
preference  was  rather  given  to  the  soldier,  —  as  under 
the  Moderado  administration  was  practically  the  case 
in  Spain,  both  as  regards  consideration  and  pay.  The 
discourse  wound  up  with  an  appeal  to  the  Deputies,  to 
despise  economy  at  such  a  crisis  and  not  peril  a  great 
cause  by  wasting  the  energies  and  distracting  the  unity 
of  conservatism  in  fruitless  and  discordant  debate.  Leg- 
islative bodies,  he  warned  them,  might  compass  their 
own  ruin  by  their  impracticability.  If  they  would  nei- 
ther govern  nor  let  govern,  but  only  discuss,  they  could 
not  stand. 

"  What  has  become  of  the  Frankfort  Assembly  ?  " 
he  asked  them  ;  "  of  that  Assembly  in  whose  ranks 
were  sages,  nobles,  and  philosophers,  the  wisest,  the 
most  honored,  the  most  profound  ?  Where  is  it  .'' 
Whither  has  it  gone  ?  Never  did  the  world  behold  a 
senate  more  august,  —  an  end  more  lamentable  !  One 
universal  shout  of  acclamation  welcomed  its  birth, —  it 
died  amid  a  hissing  as  universal  !  Germany  lodged  it 
like  a  goddess  in  a  temple,  —  the  same  Germany  looked 
on  while  it  perished  like  a  harlot  in  a  ditch  ! " 

The  reader  who  only  sees  this  speech,  in  its  mere 
nakedness,  and  in  the  imperfect  shape  which  I  have 
given  it, —  with  its  melancholy  pessimism,  its  hope- 
less distrust  of  human  intelligence  and  virtue  and  the 
providence  of  God,  —  the  solemn  sophistry  with  which 
it  would  persuade  men  to  surrender  the  hard-won  lib- 
erty of  thought  and  action,  whereof  the  legislature  in 
which  it  was  delivei'ed  was  the  offspring,  and  the  politi- 
cal existence  of  the  speaker  himself  a  triumph,  —  the 
reader,  I  say,  who  sees  but  this,  will  wonder  that  a  con- 


SPAIN.  163 

stitutional  congress  should  havo  received  the  discourse 
with  any  demonstnition  hut  a  hiss  like  that  which  said 
farewell  to  the  Frankfort  Asscmhly.  Bursts  of  disa|)- 
prohation  did,  in  fact,  occasionally  sweep  across  the 
Chamber,  —  indignant  denials  of  the  principles  pro- 
mulged,  and  the  deductions  drawn  from  them.  But 
still  the  speech  was  eminently  successful.  Its  forms 
weu'e  stately,  imaginative,  and  oratorical,  —  its  expres- 
sions glowing  with  intense  conviction.  The  orator  had 
enthusiasm,  grace,  boldness,  fire,  —  all  the  volatile  ele- 
ments which  evaporate  after  the  moment  of  inspiration, 
yet  make  that  moment  glorious.  When  men  came  to 
read  what  had  excited  them  so  much,  there  were  many 
who  thought,  with  an  old  Carlist  general  of  my  ac- 
quaintance, that  Donoso  Cortes  was  "  a  pedante,  with 
his  head  in  the  clouds."  But  the  mass  did  not  stop  to 
read,  and  the  majority  of  those  who  did,  though  they 
admitted  it  to  be  "  un  poco  vietafisico,''''  insisted,  with 
great  positiveness,  that  it  was  "  7miy  sublime  "  never, 
theless. 


164  SPAIN. 


XV. 


The  Senate.  —  Alcal a  Galiano.  — The  Cortes  op  1823- 
—  The  ATHEN^nM.— Galiano's  Lectures  there. 

The  Palace  of  the  Senate  is  on  the  Plaza  de  los 
Ministerios,  not  far  from  the  late  chamber  of  the  Dep- 
uties, but  inconveniently  distant,  I  should  think,  from 
their  present  place  of  session.  It  occupies  the  site  of 
a  church,  formerly  belonging  to  an  adjoining  convent 
of  Austin  friars,  and  is  without  any  architectural  merit 
or  pretension.  In  front  of  it,  across  the  Plaza,  is  the 
palace  of  the  Queen  Mother, —  a  most  unsightly  edi- 
fice, not  long  erected,  —  which  might  be  taken  for  an 
immense  conservatory,  were  it  not  that  the  pile  of  win- 
dow-glass, which  constitutes  the  resemblance,  is  of  va- 
rious and  glaring  colors. 

The  Senate  Chamber  is  precisely  "  the  pleasing  land 
of  di'owsy-head,"  in  which  legislators  with  the  life- 
tenure  usually  dream  through  their  unagitating  duties. 
There  is  little  that  you  see  or  hear,  as  you  sit  in  the 
small  galleries,  to  disturb  the  calm,  respectable  stagna- 
tion, whose  spirit  broods  over  the  illustrious  assemblage.. 
Even  the  echoes  are  solemn  with  a  monotony  of  their 


SPAIN.  165 

own,  and  the  graceful  oval  of  the  hall  —  avoirlinc  all 
obtrusivcness  of  angles  —  seems  as  if  intended  to  fur- 
nish that  repose  to  the  eye,  which  an  assured  position 
and  comfortable  dignity  so  naturally  spread  over  the 
mind.  The  churchmen,  who  nod  while  the  Marquis 
of is  speaking,  are  in  the  purple  of  extreme  pre- 
ferment. Why  should  they, —  or  the  invalid  generals, 
the  broken-down  or  retired  ministers,  the  gratified  favor- 
ites, the  pensioned  placemen,  the  effete  nobility,  who  are 
around  them,  —  why  should  they,  whose  ambition  has 
been  successful,  or  exhausted  or  check-mated,  trouble 
themselves  with  making  or  listening  to  speeches.?  What's 
Hecuba  to  them  ?  Their  business  is  to  vote  with  the 
government,  and  to  be  dignified,  —  an  easy  duty  and  a 
pleasant  privilege  !  It  would  be  unreasonable  to  ex- 
pect that  they  should  mar  the  enjoyment  of  the  one, 
by  travelling  beyond  the  requirements  of  the  other.  A 
stray  Progresista  —  or  an  impracticable  young  Mode- 
rado,  who  has  not  arrived  at  years  of  political  dis- 
cretion, or  lost  the  habits  of  the  lower  house,  or  the 
hope  of  yet  ruling  in  Israel  —  may  be  permitted  to 
vex  the  repose  and  crucify  the  spirits  of  the  elders  by 
his  discourses  and  his  questionings.  But  empty  bench- 
es, dull  ears,  and  extinguishing  majorities  will  subdue 
at  last  even  the  most  burning  fever  of  eloquence  and 
patriotism.  Rare,  therefore,  in  the  main,  is  the  tempest 
of  discussion  which  ever  ruflles  the  soft  plumes  of  the 
halberdiers,  whose  dainty  raiment  gives  an  air  of  feu- 
dal pageantry  to  what  in  fact  is  hardly,  in  its  spirit  or 
its  operation,  an  institution  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
•  Strange,  that  the  Cortes  of  1820-23  held  their  ses- 
sions  in  this  same  hall,  and  that  many,  whose  hearts 


166  SPAIN. 

were  warmest  and  whose  voices  were  loudest  in  the 
eloquent  conflicts  of  those  stormy  days,  should  be  seated 
—  conservatives  among  the  most  conservative  —  high 
on  the  benches  which  echo  most  faithfully  the  mandates 
of  present  power  !  Is  it  the  weakness  or  the  wisdom 
of  age  which  so  frequently  changes  the  radical  of  twen- 
ty-five into  the  high-tory  of  sixty  ?  Weakness  incon- 
ceivable or  wisdom  inscrutable  it  must  surely  have  been, 
which  brought  Martinez  de  la  Rosa  and  Alcala  Galiano 
to  sit  under  the  Presidency  and  follow  the  vote  of  the 
Marquis  of  Miraflores,  —  the  defender  of  Ferdinand 
the  Seventh  and  the  eulogist  of  his  despotism. 

I  have  said  that  Galiano  did  not  address  the  Senate, 
that  I  am  aware,  during  my  residence  in  Madrid.  Al- 
though allied  in  party  doctrines  and  association  with 
the  existing  government,  he  seemed  at  that  time  rather 
lukewarm  in  his  devotion,  or  at  all  events  indisposed  to 
make  any  display  of  it.  A  brother-senator  of  his,  not 
ill  inclined  to  gossip,  told  me  that  Galiano  had  applied 
to  ministers,  not  long  before,  for  some  preferment, 
which  they  had  refused.  "  Y  es  natural  se  qfenda  !  " 
my  informant  added  ;  —  "It  is  natural  he  should  not  be 
pleased  !  "  No  better  evidence  could  be  afforded  of 
the  strength  of  the  Moderados  at  that  day,  or  at  least 
of  their  confident  belief  that  they  were  strong,  than 
their  indifierence  to  the  support  of  so  distinguished  and 
able  a  man,  —  one  so  remarkable,  especially,  for  those 
peculiar  powers  which  are  most  formidable  in  opposi- 
tion. In  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  it  is  likely  that  the 
veteran  tribune  might  have  commanded  almost  any 
thing,  in  reason,  that  he  had  desired.  It  was  his  mis- 
fortune, however,  to  be  arrinconado  —  cornered,  as  they 


SPAIN.  lf)7 

exprossively  call  it —  in  the  upper  house,  the  deadening 
vis  inertUe  of  which  was  quite  enough  to  paralyy.e  all 
the  satire,  sarcasm,  and  denunciation  he  had  wielded 
in  his  palmiest  days.  It  was  not,  therefore,  worth  their 
while  to  propitiate  him,  when  his  parliamentary  sufTo- 
cation  was  so  easy  and  economical.  Alas  !  too,  he 
had  fallen  away  from  the  faith  of  his  youth,  and  the 
wilv  politicians  whom  he  dealt  with  knew  that  he  could 
no  longer  summon  followers  for  his  own  revenge,  with 
the  trumpet  he  had  ceased  to  sound  when  popular  in- 
stitutions were  in  danijer.  It  was  but  the  familiar  case 
—  so  often  paralleled  in  English  history  —  of  the  ir- 
resistible leader  of  the  people  ennobled  into  the  insig- 
nificant peer. 

Galiano  entered  the  Cortes,  during  the  second  consti- 
tutional period,  as  a  deputy  from  Cadiz,  his  native  city. 
In  the  legislature  of  that  day  were  many  able  men,  of 
large  experience  in  public  affairs,  some  of  whom  had 
successfully  improved  their  opportunities  for  parliamen- 
tary distinction  in  the  Cortes  of  1812-14.  Though 
comparatively  young  and  inexpert  in  politics  and  pub- 
lic speaking,  Galiano  was  not  long  in  rivalling  the  most 
conspicuous  of  his  associates,  and  soon  established  for 
himself  a  national  reputation,  by  the  boldness  of  his 
doctrines  and  the  brilliancy  of  his  eloquence.  In 
1823,  when  the  Cortes  were  in  session  at  Seville,  and 
the  approach  of  tlie  Due  d'Angouleme  rendered  their 
removal  necessary,  the  king  —  who,  although  he  had 
committed  himself  to  the  constitution  by  every  variety 
of  gratuitous  and  supererogatory  perjury,  was  still  in 
active  correspondence  with  its  enemies  and  the  chief 
of  the  invaders  —  refused  positively  to  move  a  single 


168  SPAIN. 

step.  This  was  an  unexpected  and  startling  blow,  for 
Spanish  loyalty  absurdly  forbade  the  violation  of  the 
royal  will  or  person,  and  yet  the  presence  of  the  exec- 
utive was  indispensable  both  to  the  constitutional  ac- 
tion of  the  legislature  and  the  maintenance  of  its  pres- 
tige. The  Cortes  were  in  great  consternation,  for  the 
peril  was  imminent,  and  the  briefest  delay  might  be 
fatal.  To  the  boldest  and  wisest  there  seemed  no  al- 
ternative but  an  immediate  dissolution,  which  involved 
the  utter  overthrow  of  liberal  institutions.  At  this 
critical  moment,  Galiano  startled  the  chamber  by  the 
introduction  of  a  resolution,  which  assumed,  that,  under 
the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  the  action  of  the 
king  had  vacated  the  throne.  The  proposition  was  a 
plank  in  their  shipwreck,  and  was  enthusiastically  wel- 
comed. Ferdinand,  declared  to  be  no  longer  king,' 
was  forced  to  conform  to  the  will  of  the  representatives 
of  the  nation.  He  was  directed  to  prepare  at  once  for 
the  journey,  and,  as  he  was  a  coward,  he  obeyed.  In  a 
very  few  hours  he  was  under  escort  to  Cadiz,  whither 
the  whole  government,  executive  and  legislative,  has- 
tened. So  narrow  was  the  escape  of  the  Cortes,  and 
so  fickle  the  temper  of  the  multitude,  that,  the  next 
day,  the  most  important  of  the  public  archives  were 
sacked  and  their  contents  thrown  into  the  Guadalquivir, 
while  the  people  ran  loyally  and  madly  through  the 
streets,  crying,  "  Viva  el  rey  disoluto  !  "  —  "  Long  live 
the  dissolute  [absolute]  king  !  " 

Although  the  measure  proposed  by  Galiano  had  no 
other  effect  than  to  save  the  legislature  for  the  mo- 
ment, and  to  prolong  for  yet  a  little  while  the  ineffect- 
ual struggle  of  the  liberal  party  with  domestic  treach- 


SPAIN.  169 

erv  and  foreign  arms,  it,  as  a  matlor  of  course,  ren- 
dered him  one  of  tlie   most   prominent    marks  of  royal 
persecution.     Upon  the  surrender  of  Cadiz,  he  fk-d  to 
England,  where,   under  sentence  of  death  at  home,  he 
displayed  for  many  years  the  fortitude  and  resignation, 
in  poverty  and  exile,  which  are  the  best  tests  of  a  large 
mind   and  a  great  heart.     He  devoted  himself  for  his 
support  to  the  teaching  of  his  native   language,  and 
lightened   the   heavy   moments   of  his   leisure   by   the 
cultivation  of  his  intellectual  tastes.      He  made  himself 
not  only  familiar,  but  learnedly  and  critically  so,  with 
the    literature    of    England  ;    and    his    attainments    in 
French  and  Italian  scholarship  are  said  to  be  equally 
profound  and  graceful.     At  the  death  of  Ferdinand,  he 
returned  to   his  country,  where  his  eminent  services 
and  sacrifices  commended  him  at  once  to  public  confi- 
dence.    Ten  years  of  privation  and  reflection,  however, 
with   some   practical  experience  of  popular  instability 
and  the  horrors  of  civil  strife,  had  altogether  changed 
his    political    philosophy.      He  attached  himself,   with 
many  of  the   ablest   of  his   liberal   contemporaries,  to 
the  conservative  cause,  which  he  has  since  upheld  with 
progressive  enthusiasm,  as  minister,  senator,  and  pub- 
lic teacher.     Indeed,  his  views  are  yet  more  ultra  in 
their  new  direction  than  formerly  in  their  radical  ten- 
dency ;    so  that  a    humorous  writer  says,   "  He  spent 
the  earlier  portion  of  his  life  in  proving  that  the  throne 
was  a  useless  form,  and  would  now,  if  possible,  per- 
suade the  people  that  they  ought  to  have  two  at  the 
least."     A  change  of  opinion  is,  to  vulgar   minds,  so 
sure  an  evidence  of  dishonesty,  that  nothing  but  Gali- 
ano's  consistent  poverty  could  have  saved  his  reputation 


170  SPAIN. 

from  the  obloquy  which  always  follows  apostasy,  actu- 
al or  imputed.  After  having  sacrificed  an  indepen- 
dent fortune  in  the  maintenance  of  his  principles,  he 
has  been  a  minister  and  has  not  repaid  himself.  Even 
political  slander  is  forced  to  respect  the  motives  which 
have  been  proof  against  temptation,  necessity,  and  op- 
portunity. Had  he  been  less  an  orator  and  more  a 
statesman  or  even  a  demagogue,  —  less  a  man  of  books 
and  more  a  man  of  the  world,  —  Galiano  would  prob- 
ably be  now,  with  his  ability  and  knowledge,  one  of 
the  leading  spirits  in  the  politics  of  Europe.  As  it  is, 
he  is  a  man  of  genius,  and  lives  in  humble  lodgings, — 
all  Madrid  flocks  to  hear  him  at  the  Athenseum,  yet  no 
one  wonders  when  a  cabinet,  whose  members  might 
go  to  school  to  him,  refuses  him  a  petty  pension  to 
mend  his  broken  fortunes  ! 

The  Athenfeum  is  an  excellent  institution,  established 
in  a  convenient  building  on  the  Calle  de  la  Montera. 
It  has  a  capital  reading-room,  where  you  can  always 
find  the  British  periodicals  and  reviews,  with  the  leading 
journals  from  the  Continent.  Its  library,  which  is  quite 
large,  is  well  selected,  and  the  collection  of  coins  and 
cabinet  of  minerals,  though  small,  are  beginning  to  be 
esteemed.  It  has  several  professorships,  for  the  deliv- 
ery of  gratuitous  lectures  on  scientific  and  literary 
subjects,  and  some  of  the  chairs  are  filled  by  persons 
of  conspicuous  attainments  and  ability.  When  I  was 
admitted  to  the  privileges  which  are  so  liberally  accord- 
ed by  its  rules  to  strangers,  Galiano  was  in  the  midst 
of  a  course  on  modern  history,  and  had  reached  the 
stirring  times  of  the  first  French  Revolution.  The 
subject,  always  full  of  interest  in  itself,  was  of  course 


SPAIN.  171 

doubly  attractive  in  such  hands  ;  and  so  general  was  the 
desire  to  hear,  that,  but  for  the  personal  kindness  of 
the  speaker,  I  should  have  been  unable  to  find  a  place 
in  the  overflowing  hall.  It  is  impossible  for  nie  to  re- 
call the  various  occasions  on  which  I  thus  availed  my- 
self of  his  good  offices  to  sit  under  his  instruction, 
without  feeling  that  each  gave  me  new  and  enlarged 
ideas  of  the  power  and  charm  of  speech. 

It  was  said  of  one  Romero  Alpuente,  a  prominent 
Deputy  of  the  older  constitutional  days,  and  so  justly 
said  as  to  become  proverbial,  that  he  was  '■'■feamente 
fco,''''  —  "  uglily  ugly  !  "  It  would  be  scarcely  fair  to 
print  the  phrase  in  connection  with  the  name  of  Ga- 
liano,  were  it  not  constantly  and  familiarly  applied  by 
his  contemporaries  to  the  disadvantages  of  feature  and 
expression  which  he  is  able  so  signally  to  overcome. 
His  stature  is  short,  besides,  and  his  gesture  ungraceful. 
When  I  heard  him,  he  had  to  struggle  with  the  addi- 
tional difficulty  of  speaking,  literally  ex  cathedra,  seated 
after  the  most  orthodox  professorial  fashion,  and  with 
a  table  before  him.  Nor  was  there  any  thing  in  the 
theme  which  enabled  the  speaker  to  establish  that  per- 
sonal sympathy  between  himself  and  his  audience  which 
is  the  main-spring  of  oratorical  power.  It  was  a  theme 
for  disquisition,  for  analysis,  for  generalization,  for  high 
thought,  but  not  for  passion.  Only  a  plain,  old  man  sat 
before  us,  to  work  what  wonders  he  could,  simply  with 
his  mind  and  tongue.  Yet,  if  eloquence  consists  in  the 
ability  to  sway  men's  understandings  and  lead  captive 
their  wills  by  speech,  —  to  make  them  lose  themselves 
and  their  own  thoughts  in  the  orator  and  his,  —  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying,  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  disadvan- 


172  SPAIN. 

tages  under  which  he  spoke,  Galiano  produced  on  me 
more  the  effect  of  eloquence  than  any  one  I  have  ever 
heard.  I  cannot  imagine  any  thing  to  surpass  the  mag- 
nificence of  his  occasional  improvisations.  The  gor- 
geous language  in  which  they  were  uttered  may  per- 
haps have  led  me  away  by  its  music  ;  but  this  seemed 
to  be  their  least  attraction,  so  striking  were  the 
thoughts  which  they  embodied,  so  copious  the  illustra- 
tions, so  full  the  whole  of  fit  re  and  light  and  genius  ! 
There  seemed  something  almost  miraculous  in  the  un- 
faiHng  fluency,  which,  without  the  hesitation  of  a  mo- 
ment or  the  disarrangement  of  a  word,  went  steadily 
through  the  most  intricate  phrases,  the  profoundest  re- 
flections, the  freest  range  of  imagination,  never  leav- 
ing the  sense  for  an  instant  clouded,  or  the  beauty  of 
the  diction  sullied  with  one  stain  !  The  enthusiasm  of 
the  crowd  must  have  been  indeed  irrepressible,  to  have 
overcome,  so  frequently  and  enthusiastically  as  it  did, 
the  habitual  decorum  and  self-restraint  of  a  Spanish 
audience. 


SPAIN.  173 


XVI. 


The  Ex-Kegent  Esparteko  akd  nis  Eival,  Xartaez. — 
The   Carlist   War  and   its   Conclusion-.  —  Downfall 

OF    ESPARTERO,    AND    ITS    CaCSES. LoVE    OF    TiTLES    AND 

Honors.  —  Orders  of  Knighthood. 

The  decree  which  recalled  the  Ex-Regent  Espartero 
from  banishment,  in  1847,  created  him  at  the  same  time 
Senator  of  the  reahn.  Since  his  return,  however,  he 
has  had  the  wisdom  to  take  but  Httle  part  in  the  politi- 
cal movements  of  the  day,  and  although  he  is  still  rec- 
ognized as  the  head  of  the  Progresista  party,  his  name 
is  rarely  mentioned  in  connection  with  actual  public 
affairs.  During  my  whole  stay  in  Madrid  he  was  ab- 
sent from  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  and  was  devoting 
himself,  as  I  understood,  to  the  cultivation  of  his  estate 
near  Logrofio,  and  the  improvement  of  agriculture  in 
his  neighborhood.  It  is  not  singular  that  a  man,  whose 
experience  of  popular  fickleness  and  ingratitude  has 
been  so  melancholy,  should  prefer  the  quiet  occupations 
and  pleasures  of  rural  life  to  a  renewal  of  those  strug- 
gles which  have  already  cost  him  so  much  ;  but  it 
is  nevertheless  greatly  to  be  lamented  that  the  nation 


174  SPAIN. 

should  be  deprived  of  services  so  important  as  those 
which  he  has  shown  himself  able  to  render.  I  believe 
that  his  retirement  is  a  source  of  regret  to  the  moder- 
ate and  well-thinking  men  of  all  parties,  for  I  am  sure 
that  I  heard  him  spoken  of  more  frequently  with  per- 
sonal consideration  and  affection  than  any  other  public 
man  in  Spain. 

In  a  former  chapter,  and  in  connection  with  the  prog- 
ress of  constitutional  government  since  the  death  of 
Ferdinand,  I  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the  downfall  of 
Espartero  as  paving  the  way  to  the  rapid  and  brilliant 
career  of  Narvaez.  The  characters  of  the  two  men 
are  in  strong  contrast  in  almost  all  particulars  except 
personal  bravery,  and  the  triumph  of  Narvaez  over 
such  an  opponent  is,  of  itself,  as  good  a  key  to  the 
spirit  of  Spanish  politics  as  any  that  could  be  furnished. 
Down  to  the  time  of  their  conflict,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  Espartero  stood  far  before  his  rival  in  his 
claims  upon  the  gratitude  of  the  country.  Under  cir- 
cumstances of  the  most  discouraging  character,  he  had 
succeeded  —  partly  by  his  conduct  in  the  field,  and 
partly  by  adroit  negotiation — in  putting  an  end  to  the 
cruel  and  desolating  civil  war  which  the  adherents  of 
Don  Carlos  had  kept  up  so  long.  His  political  oppo- 
nents, it  is  true,  have  sneered  at  the  Treaty  of  Vergara, 
—  by  which  the  claims  of  the  Pretender  were  extin- 
guished in  1839,  —  as  a  bargain,  corruptly  purchased 
from  the  Carlist  General,  Maroto,  and  involving  no  high 
exercise  of  civil  or  military  talent.  Success  is  of 
course  an  uncertain  criterion  of  merit,  but  the  tale 
which  events  tell  is  very  apt,  nevertheless,  to  have  some 
truth  in  it.     For  several  years,  the  cause  of  the  Span- 


SPAIN.  175 

isli  Pretender  liad  lield  its  own,  af^aiiist  the  best  efibrts 
of  the  government.  The  national  treasury  had  been 
exhausted  in  vain,  the  best  armies  had  been  bailled, 
and  the  most  distinguished  generals,  one  after  another, 
had  returned  from  the  inglorious  field,  unsuccessful 
at  all  events,  if  not  disgraced.  The  trumpets  of  the 
rebels  had  been  sounded  at  the  very  gates  of  Madrid, 
and  their  gucrrinas  had  scoured  the  plains  of  Andalu- 
cia,  La  Mancha,  and  Castile.  Until  the  intervention  of 
Espartero  as  oommander-in-chief  of  the  national  forces, 
there  was  as  little  prospect  of  a  termination  to  the 
strujTwle,  as  when  the  banners  of  Don  Carlos  were  first 
planted  on  the  stubborn  hills  of  Biscay.  That  the  new 
leader,  without  any  advantages  which  his  predecessors 
had  not  enjoyed,  should  have  been  able  to  consummate 
what  they  had  so  signally  failed  in,  is,  of  itself,  some 
evidence  that  he  had  personal  qualities  superior  to 
theirs.  But  that  conclusion  becomes  irresistible,  when 
it  is  considered  that  he  did  not  assume  the  control  of 
the  government  cause  until  after  the  spirit  of  its  sup- 
porters had  been  broken  by  years  of  failure,  —  after 
the  resources  of  the  nation  had  been  crippled  by  the 
long  and  costly  maintenance  of  a  large  war  establish- 
ment, —  and  after  impunity,  if  not  success,  had  given 
consistency  and  confidence  to  rebellion.  That,  after 
pressing  the  enemy  so  closely  as  to  incline  them  from 
necessity  to  compromise,  he  should  have  chosen  to 
finish  the  war  by  treaty  rather  than  by  bloodshed, 
would  have  been  as  honorable  to  his  wisdom  as  to  his 
humanity,  had  the  contest  been  between  strangers. 
But  in  a  civil  war,  —  a  war  which  divided  families, 
separated  provinces,  arrayed  friend  against  friend  and 


176  SPAIN. 

brother  against  brother,  in  which  neither  party  could 
be  victorious  without  carrying  desolation  to  the  hearths 
of  its  own  members,  as  sadly  as  to  the  homes  of  the 
vanquished,  —  only  a  savage  would  deny  that  the 
course  which  Espartero  chose  entitled  him,  in  a  tenfold 
degree,  to  the  love  and  gratitude  of  his  country.  Still 
deeper  and  still  stronger  ought  that  love  and  gratitude 
to  be,  in  contemplation  of  the  fact,  that  the  restoration 
of  peace,  by  the  Convenio  de  Vergara,  removed  the  main 
impediment  which,  till  that  time,  had  arrested  the  prog- 
ress of  Spain  in  freedom,  civilization,  and  development. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  weakness  of  the  Ex- 
Regent's  civil  administration,  practically  considered,  I 
have  found  very  few  who  have  denied  to  him  integ- 
rity of  purpose.  Indeed,  so  far  as  the  causes  of  his 
downfall  were  intrinsic  in  his  character  and  conduct, 
they  appear  to  have  depended  mainly  upon  princi- 
ples and  feelings  which  do  him  infinite  honor.  It 
is  said — and  probably  with  truth,  for  his  friends  do 
not  generally  deny  it  —  that  physical  infirmity  and 
the  luxurious  habits  contracted  during  his  residence 
in  South  America,  rendered  Espartero  personally  in- 
active and  indolent,  when  not  under  the  influence  of 
any  duty  which  stimulated  his  energies.  But  this  — 
though  an  unhappy  defect  in  any  statesman,  and  espe- 
cially in  a  Spanish  ruler —  was  not  by  any  means  the 
chief  secret  of  his  overthrow.  He  was  unfortunate 
enough  to  have  a  conscience.  He  was  at  heart,  and  in 
all  his  heart's  sincerity,  a  lover  of  constitutional  free- 
dom. He  had  fought  to  maintain  the  constitutional 
dynasty,  and  had  sworn  to  support  the  constitution. 
Under  no  circumstances,  therefore,  could  he  be  brought 


SPAIN.  177 

to  violate  what  he  ft-lt  that  ho  owod  to  the  hl)oral  insti- 
tutions whicli  had  made  him  —  the  son  of  a  Manchc- 
gan  peasant — Dul^e  of  Victory  and  Regent  of  Spain. 
He  felt  the  obligation  of  his  trust,  and  he  kept  it  sa- 
cred. Being  a  ruler  with  but  limited  prerogatives,  he 
would  not  20  beyond  them,  to  advance  the  interests  of 
his  party  or  consolidate  or  preserve  his  own  power. 
Throughout  his  whole  administration,  histoiy  will  rec- 
ognize a  faithful  cfl'urt  to  obey  and  execute  the  laws,  in 
the  true  spirit  of  a  liberal,  un  enlightened,  and  a  con- 
scientious patriotism. 

That,  even  with  such  determinations  and  so  much 
manly  resolution  to  fulfil  them,  Espartero  should  have 
added  another  to  the  number  of  good  men  exiled  by 
national  ingratitude,  will  not  surprise  any  one  who  has 
studied  Spanish  history  and  politics.  Republican  France 
was  governed  by  the  administrative  system  and  ideas  of 
the  kingdom  and  the  empire,  —  and  constitutional  Spain 
has  not  yet  learned  to  discard  the  machinery  and  ap- 
pliances of  the  despotism  she  has  overturned.  The 
court  and  the  capital  are  still  the  fountains  of  power. 
It  is  there  that  ministers  are  made  and  unmade  ;  there 
that  the  springs  are  touched  which  move  the  army  and 
the  people.  The  habits  of  centuries  have  not  given 
way,  and  cannot  soon  give  way,  before  the  institutions 
of  but  a  few  years.  To  suppress  the  intrigues  which 
assail  government,  secretly  and  openly,  the  government 
must  use  despotic  measures,  or  be  itself  suppressed. 
Nothing  less  decided  is  understood  or  felt,  as  yet.  Public 
opinion  cannot  be  concentrated  with  sufficient  rapidity, 
and  constitutional  means  cannot  be  directed  with  suffi- 
cient energy  and  promptness,  to  countervail  sedition. 
12 


178  SPAIN. 

The  evil  is  a  practical  one,  dependent  on  circumstances 
not  institutions,  and  has  to  be  met  practically.  This, 
Espartero  would  not  do.  He  had  no  talent  for  intrigue, 
and  he  would  not  usurp.  That  he  fell  was  not  therefore 
his  fault,  in  a  strict  sense,  although  perhaps  greatly  so 
in  the  sense  of  that  patriotism  which  impels  an  honest 
man,  strong  in  his  good  motives,  to  violate  the  law  in 
an  emergency,  in  order  that  he  may  preserve  the 
state. 

But  the  Regent  had  other  causes  of  defeat  to  strug- 
gle with.  He  was  favorable  to  a  reasonable  modifica- 
tion  of  the  tariff  on  imports,  and  this  of  course  secured 
him  the  deadly  hostility  of  Catalonia,  —  that  fruitful 
nursery  of  dangerous  and  obstinate  revolt.  The  ap- 
prehension of  a  treaty  of  commerce,  which  he  was 
supposed  to  contemplate,  with  England,  gave  him  the 
opposition  of  those  of  the  commercial  class,  whose  af- 
finities were  with  France,  and  whose  political  econ- 
omy was  made  up  of  French  ideas.  He  was  sup- 
posed to  be,  to  a  certain  extent,  under  British  influence, 
which  animated  the  hostility  of  the  whole  afrancesado 
portion  of  the  population.  His  humble  birth  and  high 
position  made  him  envied  and  hated,  and  his  successful 
career  against  the  Carlists  had  enlisted  the  whole  legit- 
imist feeling,  almost  undividedly,  in  opposition  to  him. 
Private  jealousies,  and  the  desire  to  supplant  him  in  in- 
fluence when  his  Regency  should  expire  at  the  Queen's 
majority,  made  many  of  the  leaders  in  his  own  party 
his  opponents  likewise.  Against  all  these  powerful 
elements  in  combination,  what  marvel  that  honesty 
and  integrity  should  have  proved  insufficient  to  sustain 
him  .'' 


SPAIN.  179 

It  was  of  circumstances  like  these  tliat  Narvacz  had  the 
opportunity  and  the  tact  to  avail  himself.     Hold,  active, 
unscrupulous,  able,  he  was  the  individual,  of  all  others, 
for  a  crisis  in  which  a   man  was  needed  rather  than  a 
constitution.     He  used  his  elements,  in  combination,  to 
break  down  Espartero,  and  then  he  broke  down,  with 
the  other  elements,  each  of  those  that  separately  stood 
in  his  own  way.     According  to  the  principles  on  which 
he  obtained  power,  he   exercised  it.     Through  those 
principles  he  kept  it,  and  will  most  probably  return  to 
it.     Where  there  was  an  evil,  he  sought  the  appropriate 
remedy,  —  in  the  constitution  and  the  laws,  if  he  could 
readily  find  it  there,  but  wherever  else  he  could  find 
it,  if  they  did  not  contain  it.     He  respected  constitu- 
tional forms  where  they  did  not  interfere  with  the  sub- 
stance of  his  authority,  and  he  was  always  sure  to  adopt 
them  if  he  readily  could,  when  he  found   it  necessary 
to  invade  the  substance  of  the  constitution.     That  he 
often  did  wrong,  no  one  can  doubt ;  that  his  principles 
and  practices  all  tended  towards  the  perpetuation  of  his 
own  power,  is  just  as  indisputable.     But  it  cannot  be 
denied,  I  think,  that  he  served  his  country  far  better  in 
the  main,  t^ian  if  he  had  confined  his  government  with- 
in the  appointed  limits  of  the  constitution.     The  evil 
of  usurpation  was  for  the  time  a  lesser  one  than  that 
of  anarchy.     He  gave  strength  to  the  central  power, 
where  it  was  weak,  and  crushed  almost  to  extinction 
the  spirit  of  petty  and  local  faction  and  insubordination. 
He   repressed   rivalries  and  suppressed  revolts,  which 
indecision  would  have  nursed  into  civil  war.     By  mak- 
ing his  administration    thoroughly  national,    he    com- 
manded respect  for  the  government  at  home  and  the 


180  SPAIN. 

nation  abroad.  Finally,  and  above  all  things,  he 
kept  the  country  at  peace  within  and  without,  so  that 
industry  began  to  thrive,  internal  improvement  to 
awaken,  agriculture  and  commerce  to  start  into  new 
life.  For  the  first  time  within  the  memory  of  man, 
the  capitalists  of  the  nation,  and  even  of  other  nations, 
be  "an  to  feel  that  investments  were  safe  ;  that  the 
confidence  of  to-day  would  not  be  turned  to  ruin  by 
the  revolution  of  to-morrow.  Through  his  means  the 
ground  has  thus  been  made  more  safe  for  constitutional 
rulers  to  come.  He  has  extirpated  the  once  prevalent 
idea,  that  constituUonal  government  is  only  an  organ- 
ized license,  and  has  given  the  people  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  and  feeling,  for  themselves,  that  even  arbi- 
trary rule,  if  wise,  is  better  than  no  authority  at  all. 
A  gentler  and  weaker  hand  may  now  guide  the  wild 
horses  which  he  has  broken  to  the  rein.  The  time  may 
not  perhaps  have  come,  as  yet,  when  the  system  of 
Espartero  will  altogether  sufiice  for  Spain  ;  but  the  vigor 
of  Narvaez  has  brought  it  much  nearer  than  it  would 
have  been,  after  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  premature 
republicanism.  Each  of  the  rivals,  in  his  way,  has 
deserved  well  of  his  country  ;  but  to  human  eyes  it 
would  have  seemed  wiser  had  Narvaez  preceded  Es- 
pai'tero. 

It  will  have  struck  the  reader,  probably,  in  going  over 
these  brief  sketches  of  the  men  who  rule  the  destinies 
or  hold  high  places  in  the  veneration  of  the  Spanish 
people,  that  most  of  them  have  sprung  from  humble 
origin,  and  won  their  power  and  reputation  for  them- 
selves. This  is  a  significant  fact,  and  shows,  beyond 
dispute,  that  the  popular  element  is  fully  at  work  in  the 


SPAIN.  Iftl 

Peninsula,  unilor  all  the  shapes  which  political  opinion 
may  take.  Th(3  court  and  army  of  Don  Carlos,  rep- 
resenting as  they  did  the  ultra-legitimist  principle,  would 
have  furnished  as  palpable  an  illustration  of  the  same 
fact.  In  speculating  hereafter  upon  the  political  future 
of  Spain,  I  may  have  occasion  to  recur  to  this,  as  giv- 
ing some  clew  to  her  destiny.  For  the  present,  I  only 
allude  to  it  as  in  amusing  contrast  with  the  thirst  for 
rank  and  title  which  seems  to  pervade  all  classes  of 
political  aspirants,  and  those,  especially,  whose  eleva- 
tion is  least  due  to  the  distinctions  of  society.  In  the 
moment  of  triumph,  the  most  radical  party  seems 
to  forget  its  professions  and  the  prestige  which  they 
gave.  The  Progresista  progresses  straightways  into 
a  countship,  if  he  can,  and  the  Moderado  is  moderate, 
if  he  asks  no  more  than  a  marquisate.  Crosses  and 
decorations,  ribbons  and  buttons,  are  sought  and  given 
without  stint,  —  so  that  unlucky  is  the  man  of  moderate 
pretensions  in  Madrid  who  has  not  a  uniform,  at  least, 
to  wear  on  gala-days.  Knights  of  the  royal  orders  are 
as  plentiful  as  colonels  in  our  Southern  States.  The 
list  of  Grand  Crosses  in  the  order  of  Charles  the  Third 
occupies  eight  pages  of  the  Court  Guide,  —  that  of  sim- 
ilar dignitaries  in  the  order  of  Isabella  the  Catholic 
goes  somewhat  over  ten.  In  the  latter  list  the  reader 
will  be  surprised  to  know  that  two  respectable  Turkish 
functionaries — Fuad  EfTendiand  Seid  Mohammed  Emir 
Aali  Baja.  —  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  their  names 
enrolled  !  It  would  be  curious  if  the  orthodox  queen, 
whose  memory  the  order  was  designed  to  honor,  could 
burst  her  cerements  at  Granada,  and  behold  the  cross 
she  loved   and  worshipped  resting,  in  her  name,  upon 


182  SPAIN. 

the  bosom  of  the  infidel  !  Almost  as  curious  it  might 
be  to  know  the  infidel's  own  thoughts,  as  he  puts  on 
the  emblem  of  a  worship  he  despises,  and  reflects  that 
the  poor  creature  whose  name  it  bears  had  no  preten- 
sions to  a  soul  !  But  whatever  the  Turk  might  think, 
the  Spaniard  likes  the  cross  exceedingly.  "  If  we  were 
to  have  a  democracy  in  Spain,"  said  my  old  friend,  the 
Carlist  general,  "  we  should  call  each  other  Serenisimo 
ciudadano  !  Ciudadano  principe  !  (Most  serene  citi- 
zen !  Prince  citizen  !)  at  the  least." 


SPAIN.  1S3 


XVII. 


LoTALTT. —  The  Queen. —  Gcizot  and  Infante.  —  I?eg- 
iciPES. — Necessity  of  an  able  Prince.  —  The  Qceens 
Embarazo. —  PunLic  Ke.ioicings  and  Ceremonial. — 
Diplomatic  Congratulations  and  Eeceftion.  —  The 
King. 

There  is  no  trait  more  prominent  in  the  national 
character  of  the  Spaniards,  than  the  loyally  with  which 
they  have  always  borne  themselves  towards  their  kings, 
even  when  it  was  least  deserved  and  most  ungratefully 
requited.  Certainly  no  prince,  whom  history  records, 
did  more  than  Ferdinand  the  Seventh,  to  goad  and  irri- 
tate a  people  whom  it  seemed  the  business  of  his  life 
to  wrong.  There  were  men,  all  through  the  nation, 
whom  he  had  maddened  into  hatred  of  his  person  by 
the  most  ingenious  refinements  of  insult  and  persecu- 
tion. There  were  times,  when  only  his  personal  prestige 
—  indeed  his  personal  existence  —  stood  between  the 
people  and  their  permanent  liberation  from  a  despotism 
which  shamed  the  vilest  annals  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
No  one  ever  had  a  better  right  than  he  to  e.xpect  the 
vengeance  of  men,  in  anticipation  of  the  justice  of 
Heaven.     But  although  his  private  habits  afforded  the 


184  SPAIN. 

most  frequent  and  favorable  opportunities  for  assassina- 
tion, while  his  public  conduct  was  perpetually  prompt- 
ing and  deserving  national  retribution,  he  passed  through 
his  tyrannical  and  vicious  life  without  being  once  in 
peril  of  the  dagger  or  the  scaffold.  The  Spaniards  are 
proud  of  this,  and  doubtless  it  does  credit  to  their  pa- 
tience and  forbearance ;  though,  perhaps,  it  pushed 
these  virtues  almost  into  weakness.  When  Quiroga 
was  in  London,  after  the  constitutional  defeat  of  1823, 
an  eminent  personage  suggested  to  him,  that,  if  the  lib- 
eral party  had  dealt  with  Ferdinand  as  he  deserved, 
they  would  have  saved  their  country  from  oppression 
and  themselves  from  death  or  exile,     "  It  may  be  true, 

your ,"  was  the  lofty  answer,  "  but  killing  kings 

has  never  been  a  Spanish  custom,  —  Nunca  ha  sido  uso 
en  Espana,  matar  reyes.'''' 

But   though  it  may   have  been   "  a  large  economy 

to  save  the  like,"   there  was  prudence  as  well 

as  principle  involved  in  it.  The  spilling  of  their  mon- 
arch's blood  would  have  precipitated  on  the  Spaniards 
all  the  reactionary  elements  of  Europe.  The  interven- 
tion, which  afterwards  disgraced  France  chiefly,  would 
have  been  Cossack  likewise.  The  darling  project  of  the 
French,  to  make  the  Ebro  the  boundary  of  their  domin- 
ions, would  have  been  consummated,  it  may  be,  by 
the  concession  and  the  guaranty,  to  other  powers,  of 
beautiful  and  fertile  Andalusia.  Another  dismember- 
ment, like  that  of  Poland,  would  probably  have  brought 
additional  reproach  upon  the  century,  while  all  of  Eu- 
rope that  pretended  to  be  liberal  would  have  looked  on 
again  with  folded  arms.  It  was  well,  therefore,  for 
humanity  and  for  the  cause   of  freedom,  not  less  than 


SPAIN.  185 

for  the  weal  of  Spain,  that  Fcrdhiand  was  spared.  Not 
long  ago  tlie  S|)aniards  had  an  opportunity  of  using, 
with  no  small  etfect,  the  advantage  which  their  history 
thus  gave  them  over  their  less  cbnscientious  neighbors. 
In  1812,  I  think,  hut  certainly  while  Espartero  held 
the  regency,  the  Moderados  and  the  French  their  allies 
attempted  to  create  the  impression,  that  the  Infantas  — 
now  the  Queen  and  the  Duchess  of  Montpcnsier  — 
were  not  personally  safe  in  the  hands  of  the  Frogre- 
sistas.  By  way  of  giving  currency  and  effect  to  the  im- 
putation, M.  Guizot  took  occasion  to  say,  in  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies,  that  France  would  regard  as  a  cause 
of  intervention  any  attempt  to  do  violence  to  the  royal 
persons.  The  insult  was  exceedingly  gratuitous,  and 
excited  general  indignation  in  Spain.  It  was  espe- 
cially ill-brooked  at  Madrid,  and  an  admirable  speech 
in  which  it  was  retorted,  by  Don  Facundo  Infante,  a 
constitutionalist  of  the  old  school,  shook  the  capital 
with  applause.  "  The  quondam  Professor  of  Modern 
History,"  he  said,  "  is  ignorant,  perhaps,  that  there  is 
no  such  word  as  '  regicide '  in  our  vocabulary.  The 
thing  which  it  signifies  is  not  known  to  our  history,  and 
we  have  had  no  use  for  the  name  in  our  language.* 
There  are,  unhappily,  some  nations  whose  annals  sup- 
ply the  deficiency  of  ours.  It  would  be  well  if  our 
neighbors  would  tell  us, —  before  we  trust  them  with 

*  Since  tlie  above  was  written,  the  attempted  murder  of  Queen 
Isabella  by  the  niadnian  Gomez  has  made  the  lioncst  boast  of 
the  orator  no  longer  just.  The  outrage,  however,  did  but  elicit 
a  burst  of  abhorrence  so  universal,  as  to  show  that  the  nation 
could  neither  have  sympathy  with  the  crime,  nor  be  corrupted  by 
the  example  of  the  assassin. 


186  SPAIN. 

the  guardianship  of  our  monarchs,  —  how  many  of  their 
own  they  can  remember,  from  the  days  of  Henri 
Quatre,  who  have  not  been  the  victims,  or  at  all  events 
the  aim,  of  violence,  or  banishment,  or  murder  !  " 

The  present  Queen  of  Spain  had  obviously  no  dream 
of  peril  from  her  subjects,  during  the  period  of  which 
I  write.  She  mingled  freely  with  them  on  the  Prado 
and  in  the  gardens  of  the  Retire  every  evening,  — 
generally  in  an  open  carriage,  and  accompanied  only 
by  her  servants,  and  a  lady  and  gentleman  or  two  in 
waiting.  The  simplicity  of  her  cortege  was  strikingly 
in  contrast  with  the  array  of  cavalry  and  cocked  pis- 
tols under  the  protection  of  which  the  President  of  the 
French  Republic  went  out,  at  the  same  time,  to  fra- 
ternize with  his  fellow-citizens.  Upon  the  promenade, 
and  as  she  passed  along  the  streets,  the  greeting  of  the 
people  to  Queen  Isabella  was  cordial  and  apparently 
sincere.  Her  bearing  towards  all  was  full  of  kindness, 
in  accordance  with  the  thorough  amiability  which  is 
remarkable  in  her  disposition.  Her  face,  though  not 
regarded  as  attractive  generally,  has  an  expression  of 
sadness,  at  times,  which  is  very  touching,  and  it  is  im- 
possible, I  think,  to  see  her  often,  without  being  satis- 
fied that  palace-doors  have  not  shut  sorrow  from  her. 
That  her  domestic  relations  were  far  from  being  happy 
seemed  to  be  generally  conceded,  and  if,  after  having 
been  made  the  victim  of  state  policy  and  diplomatic 
intrigue,  she  were  in  fact  mindless  of  obligations  which 
were  forced  on  her,  it  would  be  but  what  has  happened 
a  thousand  times,  where  neither  the  temptations  nor 
the  opportunities  of  royalty  were  added  to  the  reckless- 
ness of  youth  and  disappointment.     From  all  accounts. 


SPAIN.  187 

she  is  entirely  without  ambition,  ancl  well  disposed  to 
part  with  any  of  her  prcrojiativcs  as  queen,  which  in- 
terfiTC  with  her  leisure  and  freedom  as  a  woman. 

It  would  be  well,  indeed,  for  Isabella  the  Second, 
and  signally  a  blessing  to  her  people,  if,  even  for  the 
pride  of  governing,  she  could  be  brought  to  feel  a 
graver  interest  in  the  responsibilities  and  duties  of  her 
station.  At  the  present  stage  of  Spanish  aflairs,  the 
monarch  should  be  something  more  than  an  estimable 
person  or  a  respectable  figure  in  a  pageant.  Not  all 
the  ability  and  energy  of  the  most  vigorous  ministry 
can  supply  the  absence  of  those  qualities  in  the  indi- 
vidual who  holds  the  sceptre.  Men,  taken  from  the 
peoi)le  and  lifted  suddenly  to  power,  are  followed  ne- 
cessarily by  envy  and  resentment.  They  may  make 
themselves  dukes  and  marquises,  but  they  cannot  over- 
come the  popular  persuasion  that  the  only  sanction  of 
their  authority  is  the  fact  of  their  possessing  it.  Their 
measures  will  be  scrutinized,  at  the  best,  with  invidious 
acuteness  ;  their  motives  questioned,  with  all  the  distnist 
of  rivalry.  They  may  use  the  name  and  lean  on  the 
prerogatives  of  the  monarch,  but  if  the  people  know 
that  it  is  the  ministers  who  govern,  not  the  king,  the 
moral  strength  of  the  government  will  fall  as  short  of 
what  it  ought  to  be,  as  the  prestige  of  a  subject  falls 
short  of  a  king's. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  this  is  not  meant  to  be  said 
of  all  constitutional  monarchies ;  for  where  the  people 
govern  through  the  legislature  and  the  cabinet,  the 
personal  qualities  of  the  monarch,  provided  they  be 
tolerable,  are  of  no  particular  importance.  A  respon- 
sible ministry  is  quite  as  good,  in  such  case,  as  a  wise 


188 


SPAIN. 


and  vigorous  king.  But  where,  as  in  Spain,  constitutional 
government  has  not  yet  grown  into  a  habit,  —  where  the 
influence  of  the  people  has  not  learned  to  make  itself  felt 
by  concentration  of  opinion  and  unity  of  action,  —  the 
case  is  very  different.  There,  the  legislature  has  com- 
paratively little  to  do  with  the  direction  of  administra- 
tive affairs,  and  it  is  the  executive  government  which 
actually  governs.  In  such  countries  and  under  such 
circumstances  royalty  is  a  substantive  thing,  and  has 
an  opportunity  of  displaying  itself  in  its  most  effective 
and  useful  phase  as  an  institution.  But,  for  that  pur- 
pose, the  individual  who  is  invested  with  the  royal  pre- 
rogatives must  be  able  to  wield  them  himself.  His  per- 
sonal and  known  and  visible  participation  is  indispen- 
sable, to  save  the  state  from  those  continual  and  embit- 
tered contests  of  private  ambition,  which  are  apt  to  be 
the  bane  of  popular  institutions  in  their  earlier  stages. 
Of  the  exercise  of  power,  by  the  monarch,  there  may 
be  question,  so  far  as  policy  is  concerned,  but  there 
can  be  no  complaint  as  to  its  legitimacy.  His  dignity 
and  superiority,  being  beyond  cavil,  cannot  be  the  cause 
of  jealousy.  Any  man  may  intrigue  to  be  made  a 
Secretary,  in  the  stead  of  another  whom  he  knows  to 
have  no  better  right  than  he  ;  but  no  man  in  his  sane 
mind  —  unless  he  means  to  be  a  rebel  —  will  endeavor 
to  supplant  his  king.  Even  if  the  monarch  steps  be- 
yond the  line  of  his  legitimate  authority,  his  usurpation, 
whether  for  good  or  for  evil,  has  at  all  events  some 
pretexts  and  prescriptions,  which  make  it  comparatively 
respectable.  A  ministerial  despotism,  on  the  contrary, 
is  not  only  bad  in  what  it  does,  but  in  itself.  It  involves 
an  insult  as  well  as  a  wrong,  and  is  hated  and  con- 


SPAIN.  189 

spired  ag;iinst  accordingly.  In  Spain,  where  tlie 
sense  of  personal  equality  among  the  people  is  as 
strong  as  their  reverence  for  tlic  tlirone  and  loyahy 
lo  him  wlio  fills  it,  this  is  particularly  true,  and  the  per- 
sonal character  of  the  monarch,  and  the  share  he  takes 
in  the  government  of  which  he  is  the  head,  are  propor- 
tionally more  important  than  in  countries  where  those 
sentiments  prevail  less  actively.  Narvaez,  born  k'mrr 
of  Spain,  or  representing  the  will  of  a  prince  who  was 
known  to  have  a  will  of  his  own,  would  have  been  able 
to  do  more  in  a  single  year  for  the  welfare  of  his  coun- 
try, than  in  ten,  perhaps,  as  prime  minister  in  name, 
and  dictator  in  fact.  He  would  have  had  no  palace 
intrigues  to  make  him  tremble  for  his  place,  no  small 
cabals  of  jn'etendientes  to  silence  or  suppress,  no  envy 
or  repining  of  other  subjects  at  the  power  which  he  — 
a  subject  only — wielded.  He  would  have  gone  on  and 
would  still  be  ruling,  —  sternly,  and  at  all  times  despoti- 
cally it  may  be,  but  still  consistently  and  ably,  —  instead 
of  being  badgered  and  cross-questioned  by  Gonzalez 
Bravo  and  supplanted  by  Bravo  Murillo. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  deficiency  of  Isabella  the 
Second  in  the  qualities  which  made  illustrious  the  lon^r- 
descended  name  she  bears,  and  whatever  may  be 
the  tone  of  the  court  gossip  in  regard  to  her  conduct 
as  a  woman,  she  is,  as  I  have  said,  certainly  popu- 
lar among  her  subjects.  Identified  as  she  is  with  the 
cause  of  free  institutions,  for  which  the  nation  has  sac- 
rificed so  much,  it  is  not  strange  that  —  other  thintrs 
apart  —  they  should  regard  her  person  with  something 
of  the  enthusiasm  which  rallied  them  around  her  richts 
and  throne.     During   my   visit,   it   was   officially   an- 


190  SPAIN. 

nounced  that  the  birth  of  an  heir  to  the  crown  might 
be  looked  for  in  a  few  months,  and  the  occasion  devel- 
oped a  degree  of  earnest  congratulation  and  solicitude 
throughout  the  realm,  which  left  no  doubt  of  the 
Queen's  hold  upon  the  popular  affection.  It  may  give 
the  reader  some  notion  of  Spanish  peculiarities,  to  de- 
scribe the  public  manifestations  which  attended  and  fol- 
lowed so  interesting  a  disclosure. 

On  the  14th  of  February,  the  Duke  of  Valencia,  in 
full  and  magnificent  uniform,  arrested  the  attention  of 
each  branch  of  the  legislature,  separately,  by  reading 
a  communication  he  had  received  from  the  proper  offi- 
cer of  her  Majesty's  household,  in  which  the  state  of 
the  royal  health  was  reported,  from  the  certificate  of 
the  chief  physician  of  the  palace.  The  news  could 
not  have  been  very  unexpected,  for  the  subject  had 
already  been  discussed  in  the  fashionable  circles  and  the 
newspapers.  Indeed,  for  some  time  previous,  the  prin- 
cipal streets  leading  from  the  palace  to  the  Prado  had 
been  sanded  carefully  for  the  comfort  of  her  Majesty 
in  driving,  and  the  press  had  alluded  to  the  fact,  and  the 
cause  of  it,  without  any  reserve.  The  announcement, 
nevertheless,  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm  by 
the  legislature.  The  Chamber  of  Deputies  especially 
sent  forth  shouts  of  Viva  la  reina  !  which  might  have 
been  heard  almost  in  the  royal  apartments.  Immediate 
steps  were  taken  upon  all  sides  to  congratulate  the 
Queen.  The  Chamber  of  Deputies  disputed  for  some 
time  as  to  whether  they  should  present  themselves  in 
mass,  or  be  represented  by  a  committee.  Sr.  Olozaga, 
who  is  rather  a  stickler  for  the  dignity  of  the  represent- 
ative department,  protested  against  parading  the  whole 


SPAIN.  191 

body,  in  its  official  capacity,  through  the  streets.  Nar- 
vaez  had  the  tact  to  agree  with  him,  and  the  matter 
was  compromised  by  the  appointment  of  a  committee, 
with  the  understanding  that  all  the  rest  of  the  members 
might  go  in  company,  if  they  chose.  No  one,  of 
course,  was  impolitic  enough  to  be  absent,  even  if  any 
one  desired  to  be,  which,  in  the  general  jubilee,  I  very 
much  doubt.  The  Presidents  of  the  two  houses  made 
fine  speeches,  her  Majesty  answered  with  great  patri- 
otism and  amiability,  and  for  the  moment  all  party 
distinctions  seemed  to  have  been  forgotten  in  the  over- 
flovvins  of  loval  enthusiasm.  The  Cortes  having  set 
the  example,  there  seemed,  for  a  fortnight  at  least,  to 
be  a  general  descent,  upon  the  palace,  of  all  public 
bodies  and  functionaries  who  could  lay  the  slightest 
claim  to  congratulatory  privileges.  Only  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  on  his  way  to  the  Springs  or  to  a 
railroad  opening,  was  ever  so  overwhelmed  with  dis- 
courses ;  and  although  the  subject  was  not  one  which 
afforded  much  scope,  it  was  treated,  nevertheless,  in  all 
the  sublime  varieties  of  what  the  Spanish  grammarians 
call  "  figurative  syntax."  I  was  present  at  the  demon- 
stration made  by  the  diplomatic  corps,  —  having  but  a 
few  days  before  been  privately  presented, —  and  al- 
though the  grotesqueness  of  the  idea  could  not  but 
force  itself  upon  me  during  the  whole  ceremony,  I  was 
impressed  by  its  magnificence  and  the  cordial  spirit 
which  seemed  to  animate  all  who  took  part  in  it. 

Sir  Henry  Wotton  says  that  "  to  make  a  complete 
staircase  is  a  curious  piece  of  architecture,"  and  I  was 
never  more  forcibly  struck  with  the  effect  which  that 
stately  portion  of  an  edifice  may  be  made  to  produce, 


192 


SPAIN. 


than  when  we  were  passing  up  the  principal  stairway 
of  the  palace,  on  the  evening  in  question.  The  steps 
and  balustrade,  of  exquisite  white  marble,  were  made 
more  brilliant  by  the  crimson  contrast  of  rich  carpeting, 
and  the  muskets  and  halberds  of  the  guard,  who  sa- 
luted us  at  the  entrance  and  on  every  platform,  had  a 
festive  glitter  in  the  flood  of  softened  light.  A  few 
moments  of  easy  ascent  carried  us  to  the  door  of  the 
superb  ante-chamber,  where  the  aids  of  the  military 
personages  in  attendance  and  a  number  of  officers  of 
the  household  waited,  in  rich  uniforms.  In  the  adjoin- 
ing apartment  of  the  suite  we  found  the  principal 
members  of  the  diplomatic  body  already  assembled, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  we  were  ushered,  with  the 
usual  ceremonial,  into  the  presence-chamber.  Upon 
the  opposite  side  of  the  magnificent  saloon  to  that  from 
which  we  entered,  stood  the  Queen,  beside  a  table  cov- 
ered with  crimson  velvet.  The  king  was  on  her  left, 
and  on  the  other  side  of  the  table  stood  Narvaez,  with 
the  Ministers  of  Finance  and  Grace  and  Justice.  At 
the  head  of  the  chamber  was  the  Minister  of  State, 
with  the  rest  of  his  colleagues,  and  at  the  foot  the 
Count  of  Sevilla  la  Nueva,  the  Introducer  of  Ambas- 
sadors. Behind  their  Majesties  were  some  attendants 
of  high  rank.  The  chiefs  of  the  different  legations, 
in  the  due  order  of  precedence,  with  the  Pope's  Nuncio 
at  their  head,  arranged  themselves  in  line  opposite  the 
royal  persons.  Behind  each  minister  stood  his  secre- 
tary, and  the  other  members  of  his  diplomatic  family. 
When  the  wlioie  pageant  was  in  right  array,  it  was 
gorgeous  in  the  extreme  ;  for  the  apartment  was  lofty 
and   superbly   lighted,    its   architecture    and    furniture 


SPAIN.  193 

were  all  that  taste  and  luxury  could  devise,  and  the 
various  splendor  of  the  uniforms  and  court-dresses 
elicited  the  admiration  of  those  who  were  most  accus- 
tomed to  such  displays. 

As  soon  as  we  had  subsided  into  our  places,  the 
Nuncio  produced  a  congratulatory  address  in  Spanish, 
on  the  part  of  himself  and  his  colleagues,  which  he  read 
with  great  earnestness  and  deliberation,  but  with  a  pro- 
vokinfjlv  Italian  accent,  which  was  almost  too  much  for 
the  gravity  of  more  than  one  of  the  dignified  assem- 
blage. When  he  had  finished,  her  Majesty,  in  a  distinct 
tone,  but  veiy  rapidly,  read  an  expression  of  her  thanks 
and  "  sweet  hopes."  She  then  proceeded  towards  the 
Nuncio,  whom  she  saluted  very  graciously,  and,  after 
conversing  with  him  for  a  few  moments,  passed  down 
the  line  of  the  Ambassadors,  saying  a  few  words  to  each 
in  his  turn.  The  King  followed  her,  but  seemed  to  be 
in  no  great  haste  to  finish  his  part  of  tlie  performance, 

—  so  that  her  Majesty  was  compelled  to  wait  some 
time  for  him,  with  the  Introducer  of  Ambassadors,  at 
the  foot  of  the  saloon.  She  obviously  did  not  bear  the 
delay  very  patiently,  —  as  was  quite  natural, —  and 
when  the  King  finally  joined  her,  she  made  her  exit 
with  him  at  once,  by  a  door  opposite  to  us.  The  curi- 
ous in  such  matters  may  be  edified  by  the  information, 
that  their  Majesties  retired  facing  the  diplomatic  body, 

—  making  three  several  bows  as  they  moved  across  the 
apartment,  and  another  at  the  door,  as  they  were  in  the 
act  of  passing  through  it. 

It  was  the  first  time  that  I  had  been  near  the  King, 
for  a  sufficiently  long  time  to  observe  him  particularly. 
He  is  of  short  stature,  exceedingly  juvenile  and  elTem- 
13 


194  SPAIN. 

inate  in  his  appearance,  with  a  "  shrill  treble  "  in  his 
voice,  and  a  downy  incipient  moustache.  Whether  he 
deserves  one  half  the  unamiable  and  disparaging  things 
which  are  said  of  him  may  well  be  doubted  by  any 
one  who  knows  the  reckless  license  of  court  scandal ; 
but  there  is  no  risk,  I  am  sure,  in  saying  that  neither 
Lavater  nor  Spurzheim  would  hasten  to  select  him, 
from  outward  signs,  as  the  model  of  a  ruler  among 
men. 


SPAIN.  195 


XVIII. 


Social  Customs  in  Madhid.  —  Entertainments. —  Socie- 
ty AND  its  Spirit.  —  I.mitation  of  the  French.  —  The 

ACADE.MY  AND  THE  PrESS.  SOCIALISM.  —  EtIQCETTE. 

Social  Frankness  and  Cordiality. 

In  all  the  capitals  of  Europe,  the  general  tone  of 
society  among  the  higher  clas.ses  is,  of  course,  given 
by  the  court  ;  but  Madrid  is  so  emphatically  "  la 
Corte,^^ — the  Court  and  nothing  else,  —  that  every 
movement  at  the  Palace  vibrates  through  the  whole 
circumference  of  the  social  circle.  The  Queen,  who 
is  as  generous  as  she  is  gay,  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
throwing  open  the  royal  saloons  to  her  lieges  without 
stint,  and  I  found  that  traditions  of  her  splendid  balls 
and  routs,  during  the  preceding  winters,  were  quite  rife 
among  the  gossips  of  fashion.  Indeed,  I  met  with  a 
party  of  young  noblemen  who  had  come  from  Bel- 
gium, all  the  way,  in  the  praiseworthy  expectation  of 
realizing  sundry  wonderful  accounts  which  had  been 
given  them  by  some  of  their  luckier  friends,  who  were 
in  Madrid  the  year  before.  Unhappily,  however,  the 
events  to  which  I  have  alluded  disappointed  the  hopes 


196  SPAIN. 

and  calculations  of  the  dancing  world,  during  the  sea- 
son of  my  visit,  and  confined  the  entertainments  at  the 
palace  to  a  few  operatic  performances.  As  a  conse- 
quence, scarcely  any  one  seemed  disposed  to  open  or 
carry  on  the  usual  festive  campaign,  and  several  of  my 
acquaintance,  who  had  promised  me  marvels  when  the 
season  opened,  were  careful  to  tell  me,  when  it  was 
over,  that  they  had  never  seen  Madrid  so  little  like 
itself.  The  few  general  entertainments  which  were 
given  were  probably  a  fair  type  of  the  many  which 
would  have  kept  them  company  under  more  favora- 
ble auspices  ;  but  as  it  is  no  part  of  my  plan  to 
chronicle  a  stranger's  experience  of  private  hospitality, 
I  must  leave  the  reader  to  imagine,  that  wealth  and 
social  cultivation  have  the  same  results  in  Madrid  as 
all  the  world  over. 

In  telling  the  story  of  my  former  rambles  in  Spain, 
I  took  occasion  to  say  something  about  the  rarity  of 
invitations  to  dinner,  which  some  travellers  complain 
of  so  bitterly.  It  is  not  the  custom  of  the  country  to 
feed  the  hungry  after  that  fashion,  —  and  whether  it  be 
a  fault  or  a  virtue,  Madrid,  in  that  particular,  is  like  the 
rest  of  the  kingdom.  Any  one  who  makes  up  his 
mind  to  be  a  dweller  in  the  capital  must  resign  himself 
to  the  inevitable  necessity,  for  the  most  part,  of  casting 
his  own  bread  upon  the  waters,  and  finding  it  for  himself 
when  he  can.  With  but  few  exceptions,  the  foreigners 
resident  at  Madrid  are  the  only  Amphitryons,  and  there 
are  those  of  them,  no  doubt,  who  are  consequendy  re- 
membered in  the  same  spirit  which  taught  the  weary  pil- 
grims to 

"  drinlv,  and  pray 
For  the  kind  soul  of  Sybil  Grey." 


SPAIN.  197 

The  prodigal  abundance  —  which  loads  the  tables 
and  supports  the  medical  faculty,  regular  and  irregu- 
lar, wherever  Anglo-Saxondom,  or  its  remotest  otlshoot, 
Stretches  —  forms  no  part  of  Spanish  social  economy. 
The  tertulias,  or  evening  receptions  —  which  are  so 
natural,  so  pleasant,  and  so  free,  that  no  one  can  enjoy 
them  long,  without  regarding  them  as  one  of  the  most 
charming  fashions  of  social  intercourse  —  are  altogeth- 
er without  gastronomic  embellishments,  A  little  or- 
cliatn^  lemonade  and  cake,  with  perhaps  a  cup  of  tea 
where  foreign  tastes  have  been  acquired,  are  all  that 
a  large  company  will  desire,  to  help  them,  with  music 
and  conversation,  through  a  long  and  agreeable  evening. 
If  cards  are  introduced,  as  they  frequently  are,  it  is 
not  often  that  the  game  gets  the  better  of  prudence. 
In  the  more  aristocratic  saloons,  where  ecarle  is  popu- 
lar, the  stakes  are  generally  made  up  by  the  bystand- 
ers,—  and  the  loser  invariably  resigns  his  seat  to  his 
neighbor,  as  soon  as  fate  determines  against  him.  The 
amusement  of  one  is  thus  made  the  amusement  of  all, 
and  there  is  a  natural  and  constant  diffusion  of  that 
social  electricity,  which  we  are  too  apt,  in  this  countiy, 
to  suppose  can  only  be  disseminated  by  the  ponderous 
machinery  of  a  supper. 

Some  ill-natured  commentators  upon  Spanish  cus- 
toms have  been  disposed  to  attribute  the  fast-day  char- 
acter of  these  entertainments  to  the  poverty  of  the 
people,  or  their  economy,  rather  than  their  moderation. 
1  have  no  idea  that  there  is  any  foundation  whatever 
for  that  impression.  People  would  be  called  together 
less  frequently,  no  doubt,  if  it  were  necessary  to  tempt 
them   by    costly   preparations ;   and    it   is    more   than 


198  sr^iN. 

probable,  that  the  Spaniards,  like  all  the  rest  of  the 
children  of  men,  would  say  Ha  !  ha !  among  the  ban- 
quets, if  there  were  any,  as  the  war-horses  are  wont  to, 
among  the  trumpets.  Yet  this  last  would  only  happen 
from  the  common  weakness  of  all  flesh  and  the  supe- 
riority of  temptation  to  human  powers  of  resistance. 
I  am  quite  persuaded,  in  spite  of  it,  that  the  present 
system  is  the  result  of  both  taste  and  principle.  The 
Spaniards  are  notoriously  an  abstemious  people,  in  the 
very  bosom  of  abundance  ;  hence,  to  be  moderate  is 
to  them  natural.  In  the  midst,  too,  of  all  their  distinc- 
tions of  rank  and  class,  —  their  stars  and  crosses  and 
uniforms,  —  they  are,  as  1  have  frequently  repeated, 
more  practically  observant  of  personal  equality  than 
any  people  I  have  seen.  A  social  habit,  therefore, 
which  puts  rich  and  poor  upon  a  level,  so  far  as  they 
may  intrinsically  deserve  to  be,  is  entirely  in  accord- 
ance with  their  instincts.  Fond,  too,  as  they  are  of 
pleasant  intercourse,  it  is  but  reasonable  that  they 
should  adhere,  with  some  pertinacity,  to  observances 
which  remove  the  ban  so  often  put  by  adverse  fortune, 
elsewhere,  on  social  talents  or  accomplishments.  Hal- 
leck's  "  Fanny  "  could  never  have  been  a  poem  of 
Spanish  life.  The  "  dwelling  of  the  proud  and  poor  " 
would  not  have  closed  its  doors  or  lost  its  visitors,  be- 
cause there  was  no  longer  a  chandelier  in  the  drawing- 
room.  If  the  inmates  had  been  worth  cultivating,  the 
world  would  have  sought  and  found  them,  as  usual,  on 
the  next  pleasant  evening  after  the  notary  had  called 
to  protest  the  bill.  Not  that,  in  Spain,  adversity  is 
altogether  without  the  shadows  which  make  its  path- 
way cold   and   gloomy  everywhere  ;   but   that   social 


SPAIN.  199 

pleasure  is  made  to  depend  more  upon  the  men  and 
women  who  enjoy  and  give  it,  than  on  the  adventitious 
circumstances  which  surround  them,  and  these  may 
consequently  take  to  themselves  wings,  without  car- 
rying every  thing  along  with  them. 

Madrid,  however,  is  no  very  accurate  or  favorable 
type  of  the  national  character  and  customs,  in  the 
particulars  of  which  I  have  been  speaking.  Socially, 
indeed,  —  it  is  strange,  but  it  is  true,  —  the  capital  is  the 
most  un-Spanish  city  in  the  kingdom.  There  is  less  of 
the  national  freedom  and  frankness  there,  more  ostenta- 
tion, more  pretension,  more  servility  in  the  imitation  of 
foreign  tastes  and  habits,  than  in  all  the  rest  of  Spain  put 
tof^ether.  I  have  heard  some  of  the  Madrileuos  rebel 
sturdily  against  this  conclusion  ;  but  it  is  just,  never- 
theless, and  I,  for  one,  certainly  adopt  it  in  no  unfriend- 
ly spirit.  The  persons  to  whom  I  refer  insisted  that 
foreigners  visit  Spain  merely  to  enjoy  its  peculiarities, 
—  the  points  in  which  it  differs  from  the  more  mod- 
ernized countries  of  Europe.  Looking  at  the  people 
merely  in  the  picturesque  point  of  view,  travellers, 
they  said,  are  disappointed  at  finding  that  the  French 
bonnet  and  hat  have  superseded  the  manliUa  and  ca- 
laiies  on  the  Prado, — that  boleros  and  the  ole  are  not 
danced  in  polite  society,  —  and  that  well-bred  men  and 
women  in  Madrid  are  dressed  and  bear  themselves 
like  well-bred  people  in  the  other  capitals  of  Europe. 
Hence  it  is,  they  said,  that  strangers  pronounce  Madrid 
un-Spanish.  Going  to  the  Peninsula  as  to  a  bal  de 
costuvie,  they  arc  disappointed  at  not  finding  the 
maskers  and  mummers  as  fantastic  as  they  had  ex- 
pected. 


200  SPAIN. 

There  would  be  a  good  deal  of  force  in  this,  if  it 
told  the  whole  truth.  No  people  are  under  an  obliga- 
tion to  be  stationary  for  the  amusement  of  picturesque 
tourists.  Intercourse  with  other  nations  would  be  of 
but  little  service,  were  we  not  at  liberty  to  learn  and 
willing  to  be  taught  any  improvement  on  our  national 
usages.  Though,  therefore,  I  consider  it  very  barbar- 
ous taste  to  supplant  the  mantilla  by  any  French  or 
English  contrivance  whatever,  I  see  no  reason  why 
those  who  think  differently  should  not  be  allowed  to 
indulge  their  notions  accordingly.  With  far  greater 
readiness,  I  admit  both  the  wisdom  and  civilization  of 
introducing  the  French  system  of  cookery,  to  the  full- 
est extent.  Any  one  who  prefers  the  pucker o  of  his 
fathers  ought  of  course  to  be  tolerated  in  adhering  to 
it  himself,  provided  he  gives  to  others  the  choice  be- 
tween it  and  something  better.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  entirely  in  accordance  with  the  most  orthodox 
Espanolismo,  for  a  man  to  prefer  what  the  culinary 
genius  of  the  Palais  Royal  has  done  for  humanity,  to 
all  the  combinations  of  garhanzos  and  tocino  that  have 
come  down  from  the  days  of  King  Roderick.  Neither 
patriotism,  nor  prescription,  nor  "  reverence,"  has  any 
thing  to  do  with  so  vital  a  matter. 

But  the  customs  of  Madrid  go  very  far  beyond  these 
reasonable  limits.  The  dynasty  and  its  associations 
have  infused  the  French  mind,  as  far  as  possible,  into 
the  national  body,  and  the  French  raiment  in  which 
they  have  clothed  the  latter  is  consequently  worth  no- 
ticing as  a  type  of  the  inward  transformation.  French 
habits  have  been  introduced,  —  French  tastes  domesti- 
cated,—  French  ideas,  and  doctrines,  and  even  preju- 


SPAIN.  201 

dices,  incorporated  into  the  national  stock, —  not  be- 
cause they  are  better  than  the  old,  but  because  they 
are  French.  What  foreigners  admire  most  in  the 
Spanish  character  and  manners  is  that  wliich  is  most 
characteristic.  The  Madrid  theory  seems  to  be,  tViat 
to  adhere  to  what  is  characteristic  and  national  is  to 
linger  behind  the  age.  In  the  most  elevated  circles  —  in 
the  very  palace  itself — the  French  language  is  spoken, 
not  merely  as  a  matter  of  diplomatic  necessity  or  con- 
venience, but  of  choice  ;  and  Spanish  is  hardly  toler- 
ated there,  even  between  Spaniards.  The  personal 
example  of  the  Queen,  who  is  especially  fond  of  her 
native  language,  has  failed  to  check  this  corruption  of 
the  public  taste.  It  has  gone  so  far,  that  not  only  the 
ephemeral  productions  of  the  press,  but  even  the  best- 
conducted  journals,  and  the  works  of  some  of  the  most 
popular  writers,  are  filled  with  glaring  Gallicisms.  The 
Dictionary  of  the  Academy  itself —  the  standard  and 
test  of  purity  in  the  Castilian  —  is  naturalizing  these 
interpolations  so  steadily  and  progressively,  that  a  wit- 
ty censor,  not  long  back,  insisted  on  having  the  last 
edition  translated  into  Spanish  !  The  discourse  of  a 
prominent  Senator  of  the  Moderado  party,  delivered 
while  I  was  in  Madrid  on  the  occasion  of  his  admission 
to  the  Academy,  was  amusingly  and  justly  criticized 
in  detail,  by  a  writer  in  the  Clamor  Publico,  for  its 
palpable  introduction  of  unauthorized  French  words 
and  idioms.  The  thing  was  made  too  plain  to  be  above 
even  a  foreigner's  appreciation. 

As  has  been  heretofore  observed,  in  speaking  of  the 
Madrid  press,  the  newspapers  have  not  only  adopted  the 
French  form  and  arrangement,  but  arc  mostly  printed, 


202  SPAIN. 

as  nearly  all  the  best  books  are,  from  French  type. 
The  French  political  philosophy  which  may  be  cur- 
rent at  the  time  furnishes,  in  like  manner,  to  the  jour- 
nalists on  both  sides,  the  greater  part  of  their  maxims 
and  logic.  Sometimes  the  effect  of  this  is  very  amus- 
ing. For  example,  if  there  be  any  thing  on  earth  of 
which  a  Spaniard  is,  from  his  moral  and  physical  con- 
stitution, incapable,  that  thing,  it  may  be  safely  said, 
is  socialism.  Your  genuine  Iberian  may  do  many 
things  both  strange  and  wild,  in  a  polhical  way,  but 
his  peculiarities  must  always  have  a  practical  turn. 
He  will  "  pronounce,"  with  his  shouldered  musket,  in 
the  flaza,  —  he  will  shoot  a  Jefe  Politico,  —  hunt  a 
broken-down  minister  to  the  very  frontier,  —  turn  guer- 
rillero,  and  go  through  five  years  of  countermarching 
and  starvation,  to  break  down  an  existing  dynasty  or 
give  the  king  of  his  choice  "  his  own  again,"  —  but  so- 
cialist, Fourierist,  communist,  or  transcendentalist  of  any 
species,  he  cannot  be.  He  has  not  the  stuff  in  him  of 
which  these  sorts  of  people  are  made.  His  romance, 
his  human  instalment  of  insanity,  does  not  run  in  that 
direction.  He  has  excellent  common  sense,  in  the  first 
place,  besides  a  keen  perception  of  the  ridiculous,  and 
a  contempt  for  metaphysics  generally.  "You  are 
metaphysical,"  says  Babieca,  the  horse  of  the  Cid,  to 
Rozinante,  in  one  of  the  sonnets  prefixed  to  the  first 
edition  of  Don  Quixote.  "  '  T  is  that  I  eat  not !  "  is  the 
Manchegan  charger's  reply.  The  Spaniard,  every- 
where, is  of  Rozinante's  opinion,  that  too  nice  specula- 
tion is  a  windy  business,  furnishing  small  entertainment 
for  man  or  horse. 

In  spite  of  this,  —  which  is  as  indisputably  a  trait  of 


SPAIN.  203 

tlie  Spanisli  cliaractcr  as  loyalty  or  constancy,  or  any  of 
its  virtue's  or  vires,  —  there  was  not  a  conservative  paper 
in  all  Madrid,  that  ilid  not  daily  and  principally  enlarge 
upon  the  liorrors  of  the  socialist  doctrines,  and  invoke 
the  energies  of  the  country  and  the  powers  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  check  the  progress  of  liberal  politics,  as 
involving  socialism  and  its  consequences,  of  necessity. 
M.  Proudhon  was  the  great  bugbear.  French  democ- 
racy had  run  riot,  and  declared  all  property  to  be  rob- 
berj' ;  therefore  there  was  no  safety  for  any  thing,  in 
Spain,  that  savored  of  concession  to  the  people.  The 
reasoning  was  not  very  conclusive,  but  still  it  was  gen- 
erally adopted,  and  the  preservation  of  "eZ  orden''''  — 
"  order  "  —  seemed,  by  general  consent,  to  be  regarded 
by  the  whole  conservative  party  as  the  only  purpose 
for  which  government  was  instituted.  The  party  of 
progress,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  fail,  I  must  admit, 
to  give  some  color  to  the  pretensions  of  the  enemy. 
The  magnificent  generalities  of  the  French  republican 
orators  were  too  high-sounding  in  Castilian  for  journal- 
ist nature  to  resist,  and  phrases,  which  might  perhaps 
have  been  potent,  and  consequently  dangerous,  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville,  were  now  and  then  let  loose  from  the 
columns  of  a  liberal  newspaper.  It  needed  great  folly 
to  suppose  that  such  abstractions  could  be  any  thing 
more  than  simply  ridiculous  in  Spain.  Yet  it  was  mor- 
tifying to  see  how  frequently  the  political  discussions, 
both  in  print  and  in  the  Cortes,  were  made  to  turn, 
almost  exclusively,  upon  them.  It  will  be  worth  while 
to  observe  the  course  which  things  of  the  sort  will  take, 
now  that  France  has  adopted  the  coup  d''efaf,  which  is 
emphatically  a  Spanish  (or  Turkish)  invention. 


204  SPAIN. 

The  etiquette  of  Madrid  was,  in  most  particulars, 
very  rational.  Strangers,  on  arriving  in  the  city,  were 
expected  to  leave  cards  for  those  persons  on  whose 
civility  they  had  any  claim.  The  promptness  or  delay 
with  which  the  courtesy  was  acknowledged,  furnished  a 
pretty  fair  test  of  the  cordiality  with  which  a  more  par- 
ticular acquaintance  was  likely  to  be  encouraged.  On 
New- Year's  day,  or  from  that  to  Twelfth-day,  every 
one  sent  cards  to  all  his  acquaintance,  and  a  neglect 
of  that  attention  was  construed,  in  the  absence  of  ex- 
planation, to  indicate  a  wnsh  for  the  suspension  of  visit- 
ing intercourse.  It  was  an  easy  civility,  however,  and 
few  disregarded  it.  You  had  only  to  make  out  a  list, 
and  your  servant  did  the  rest.  Persons  about  to  enter 
upon  the  holy  estate  of  matrimony  announced  the  fact 
to  all  with  whom  they  desired  to  continue  their  social 
relations,  by  sending  round  a  card,  in  their  joint  names, 
giving  the  direction  of  their  intended  residence  and  an 
invitation  to  visit  them.  Formal  visits  were  generally 
made  between  two  and  five  in  the  afternoon,  yet  few 
persons  received  formally,  and  it  was  generally  polite 
to  send  a  card,  always  so  to  leave  one  in  person,  with- 
out asking  to  be  admitted.  Most  families,  of  any  social 
position,  had  stated  evenings  —  once  in  a  week  or  a 
fortnight — on  which  they  expected  visitors,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  and  it  was  regarded  as  unsocial,  if  not 
uncivil,  for  even  an  ordinary  acquaintance  to  neglect 
presenting  himself,  occasionally,  at  these  unpretending 
reunions. 

In  the  more  fashionable  houses,  the  evening  recep- 
tions did  not  begin  before  nine  o'clock.  They  gener- 
ally lasted  until  near  midnight,  about  which  hour,    if 


SPAIN.  205 

there  was  a  ball  elsewhere,  the  company  woiihl  sep- 
arate to  meet  again.  Such  hours,  of  course,  were  not 
likely  to  encourage  early  rising,  and  I  have  heard  it 
said  of  some  fair  ladies,  that,  on  their  way  home'  from 
the  dance  of  Saturday  night,  they  would  now  and  then 
point  the  moral  of  earthly  vanity,  by  hearing  mass  in 
their  faded  flowers !  The  gay  and  passionate,  who  had 
the  vigor  of  youth  as  well  as  its  hopes  and  promptings, 
no  doubt  found  enjoyment  in  this,  —  at  any  rate  for 
a  while  ;  but  there  were  others  on  whom  it  must 
have  imposed  a  melancholy  servitude.  Power  was  to 
be  sought,  as  well  as  pleasure,  in  the  saloons  of  Madrid, 
and  many  an  intrigue  to  overturn  a  ministry  or  circum- 
vent an  opposition  was  planned  and  thwarted  amid 
festal  light  and  music.  Politicians,  diplomatists,  and  the 
higher  order  of  pretendienles,  were  usually  watchers, 
therefore,  on  such  occasions.  Many  a  weary  and  sad 
Major  Pendennis  went  through  a  nightly  tribulation, 
which  all  the  honors  and  profits  of  the  Court  would  have 
but  ill  repaid.  I  could  not  help  thinking,  sometimes, 
how  natural  it  was  that  affairs  should  occasionally  go 
wrong,  when  the  brains  on  which  their  conduct  de- 
pended  were  so  often  throbbing,  at  the  dawn,  with  the 
fever  of  sleepless  revehy.  It  was  on  account  of  such 
habits,  most  probably,  that  the  ministerial  bureaux  were 
so  rarely  accessible,  for  any  purposes  of  business,  before 
the  afternoon.  No  one  who  knows,  from  experience, 
how  little  of  the  working  day  is  left  when  the  morning 
is  gone,  can  be  surprised,  after  knowing  this  fact,  at  the 
delays  and  postponements  in  which  the  public  offices  of 
Spain  so  proverbially  abound. 

It  was  not,  of  course,  among  the  Polkas  and  Mazur- 


206  SPAIN. 

kas  —  which  are  danced,  all  the  world  over,  to  the  same 
music,  well  or  ill  played  —  that  the  characteristics  of 
Spanish  society  were  to  be  particularly  sought,  even  so 
far  as  they  were  to  be  found,  at  all,  in  Madrid.  The 
quiet  tertuUa,  among  quiet  people,  was  more  interesting 
to  a  stranger,  on  that  account,  than  the  rout  which  fol- 
lowed it.  The  one  he  could  see  almost  anywhere,  with 
perhaps  some  little  variety  in  its  accidents  ;  the  other  he 
could,  on  the  whole,  find  nowhere  else.  With  respect- 
able introductions,  he  could  have  access,  on  almost 
every  night  of  the  week,  to  tertuUas,  literary,  political, 
or  merely  social,  according  to  his  taste.  A  fair  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Spanish  language  would  be  neces- 
sary to  his  complete  enjoyment  and  appreciation  of  them ; 
for  although  he  would  seldom  be  without  some  one  to 
speak  with  him  in  his  own  tongue,  or,  at  all  events,  in 
French,  yet  the  conversation  —  except,  as  I  have  said,  in 
the  more  courtly  circles  —  was,  for  the  most  part,  car- 
ried on  in  Spanish,  and  its  spirit  and  style  were  mainly 
national.  The  unreserve  with  whiph  he  would  hear 
persons  and  things  discussed,  according  to  the  predom- 
inating opinion  of  the  company,  would  surprise  him  a 
little,  at  first ;  but  he  would  soon  find  himself  regarded 
as  having  undergone  a  sort  of  matriculation,  which  in- 
volved confidence  as  well  as  cordiality.  Whatever  he 
might  find  to  be  the  degree  of  sensibility  manifested  by 
the  Spaniards,  as  a  people,  to  any  impeachment  of  their 
national  intelligence  or  dignity,  he  would  soon  learn, 
that,  as  individuals,  they  wei'e  as  open  as  any  to  re- 
spectful and  kindly  interrogation  or  suggestion.  If  he 
should  fail  to  understand  them  fully  and  appreciate 
them  fairly,  it  would  be  his  own  fault ;  for,  lack  what 


SPAIN.  207 

they  might  in  other  things,  they  would  show  liim  no 
want  of  frankness.  If,  in  tlie  midst  of  tlie  very  kind- 
ness which  made  him  at  homo  upon  the  briefest  ac- 
quaintance, he  should  perceive  an  attentive  politeness, 
approaching  so  near  to  formality  as  now  and  then  to 
embarrass  him,  he  would  soon  be  brought  to  understand 
and  admire  it  as  the  expression  of  habitual  consideration 
for  the  feelings  of  others.  He  would  value  it  the  more, 
when  he  learned,  from  its  universality,  that  what  was 
elsqwhere  chiefly  a  thing  of  manners  and  education,  was 
there  a  genial  instinct  developed  into  a  social  charity. 


208  SPAIN. 


XIX. 


Theatres    and    Dramatic    Literature.  —  Actors    and 
THEIR   Style.  —  Romea  and   Matilde  Diaz.  —  Breton 

DE      LOS     HeRREKOS      AND      HIS      PlATS.  —  RuBl. ISABEL 

LA  Catolica.  —  Historical  Dramas.  —  Theatrical  Po- 
lice. —  Literary  Rewards.  —  Copyright.  —  Count  of 
San  Luis. 

The  Teatro  de  Oriente,  wben  I  was  in  Madrid,  being 
still  as  Ferdinand  left  it,  there  was  no  theatre  or  opera- 
house  on  a  scale  worthy  of  a  capital.  Indeed,  with  the 
exception  of  the  private  operas  at  the  palace,  it  was 
admitted,  on  all  hands,  that  the  season  was  without 
musical  attractions.  The  drama  fared  much  better,  — 
and  although  the  minor  theatres,  with  ballet  and  vaude- 
ville, were  more  generally  attended,  the  Teatro  Es- 
paiiol  (known  for  nearly  half  a  century  as  the  Teatro 
del  Principe,  —  the  Prince's  Theatre)  was  constantly 
presenting  plays  of  the  best  character,  in  quite  a  high 
style  of  art.  This  theatre  is  the  property  of  the 
Ayuntamiento  of  Madrid,  at  whose  risk  and  for  whose 
account  it  was  conducted  ;  but  the  worshipful  fathers 
of  the  city,  with  a  discretion   not  usually  belonging  to 


SPAIN.  209 

their  class,  had  placnd  its  management  in  the  hands  of 
Don  Julian  Romoa,  a  capital  actor,  —  who  was,  brsidcs, 
no  mean  poet,  and  said  to  be  one  of  the  best  dramatic 
critics  in  S[)ain.  Under  his  auspices  and  the  very  lib- 
eral encouragement  of  the  Count  of  San  Luis,  then 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  the  best  poetical  talent  of  the 
country  was  called  into  requisition,  and  the  Espanol  had 
become  an  excellent  school  of  taste  for  both  actors  and 
authors.  Its  audience  was  generally  made  up  of  the 
most  cultivated  people,  and  evinced  a  discrimination  in 
applause  and  censure,  that  bespoke  the  habit  of  hear- 
ing and  seeing  good  models.  The  theatre  itself —  then 
the  best  in  the  city,  though  not  the  largest  —  was  very 
comfortably  arranged  for  the  spectators,  although  so 
narrowly  provided  with  accommodations  behind  the 
scenes,  as  to  require  the  removal  of  the  more  cumbrous 
decorations  to  a  distance,  whenever  the  production  of 
a  novelty  increased  the  usual  supply.  The  machinery 
and  the  mise  en  scene  were,  nevertheless,  quite  modern 
and  artistic,  on  the  whole,  so  that  little  was  left  to  be 
desired,  in  those  particulars,  by  such  as  were  content  to 
enjoy  the  "  legitimate  "  department. 

What  has  been  said  in  regard  to  the  oratory  of  the 
Spaniards,  applies  with  equal  force  to  the  elocution  of 
their  stage.  There  is,  among  the  best  of  their  tragic 
artists,  what  strikes  as  exaggeration  one  who  is  accus- 
tomed to  our  standards.  It  is  not  the  depth  of  their 
passion,  nor  indeed  its  violence,  but  rather  its  vi- 
vacity, that  produces  this  impression.  They  have  a 
quickness  and  restlessness  of  manner  which  seems  at 
war  with  dignity.  There  is  too  much  gesticulation,  — 
too  little  repose,  —  an  incessant  twinkle,  which  takes 

14 


i 

210  SPAIN. 

the  place  of  both  blaze  and  heat.  As  the  kings  at  some 
of  our  theatres  insist  upon  wearing  their  crowns  and 
robes  of  state,  in  the  street  and  on  the  battle-field  as 
well  as  in  their  bed-chambers,  lest  they  be  mistaken 
for  common  people,  —  so  the  Spanish  tragedians  seem 
to  think  that  a  hero  or  heroine  must  say  and  do  every 
thing  after  a  peculiar  fashion, —  if  not  an  heroic  one. 
Instead  of  holding  the  mirror  up  to  nature,  they  are 
constantly  and  majestically  watching  their  own  looking- 
glasses.  This  criticism,  I  am  aware,  may  possibly  be 
open  to  the  reply  which  I  have  admitted  may  be  made 
to  my  observations  on  the  kindred  subject.  Yet  I  do 
not  think  it  is  fairly  so.  I  am  the  better  satisfied  that 
it  is  not  the  result  of  prejudice,  or  of  my  habituation  to 
a  different  style,  from  the  fact  that  I  do  not  think  it 
possible  for  a  Spaniard  to  have  enjoyed,  with  a  keener 
relish  than  I  did,  the  excellent  comic  acting,  and  the 
admirable  representations  of  daily  life,  which  were  so 
frequent  upon  the  Madrid  stage. 

Komea,  who  generally  filled  the  best  tragic  parts,  is 
less  obnoxious  to  the  remarks  just  made,  than  any  actor 
of  his  nation  that  I  have  seen.  If,  on  the  contrary,  he 
has  a  leading  defect,  it  is  that  he  is  too  cold,  —  that  he 
has  chastened  his  style  into  tameness.  The  features 
of  the  tragic  mask  will  not  bear  too  much  rounding, 
and  from  forgetting  this  he  has  made  them  sometimes 
inexpressive,  when  seen  from  a  spectator's  distance. 
It  is  a  fault,  however,  which  springs,  in  him,  from  the 
tastes  and  scruples  of  a  scholar,  and  is  in  a  great  de- 
gree relieved  by  a  thorough  comprehension  of  his  parts, 
and  a  nice  and  graceful  observance  of  all  the  propri- 
eties and  probabilities  of  his  art.     He  has  a  good  voice 


SPAIN.  211 


* 


and  great  command  of  it,  an  admirable  articulation, 
and  exceeding  skill  in  the  appropriate  adornment  of  a 
striking  person. 

The  wife  of  Romea,  better  known  as  Matilde  Diaz, 
is  regarded  as  the  best  tragic  actress  in  the  kingdom, 
and  has  unbounded  popularity  in  Madrid.  An  unfor- 
tunate tendency  to  embonpoint  has  made  her  figure 
emphatically  what  Byron  hated,  and  has  of  course 
greatly  impaired  the  spirituality  which  first  gave  rep- 
utation to  her  acting.  She  redeems  this  misfortune, 
however,  by  a  sweet,  expressive  face,  a  melodious 
voice,  and  a  great  deal  of  tragic  feeling  and  poetical 
appreciation.  Her  recitation  of  her  noble,  native  lan- 
guage is,  at  times,  the  perfection  of  spoken  music, 
and  her  tender  passages  would  indeed  be  perfect,  alto- 
gether, were  it  not  that,  with  Rosalind,  she  sometimes 
"  will  weep  for  nothing,  like  Diana  in  the  fountain." 
Whether  Matilde  has  made  this  excess  of  sweet  sor- 
row the  fashion,  I  do  not  know  ;  but  it  is  the  fash- 
ion, —  and  her  rival,  Lamadrid,  who  likewise  has  a  good 
deal  of  tragic  power,  carries  it  to  the  extreme  of  the 
pocket-handkerchief  style,  which  makes  the  griefs  of 
Mrs.  Haller  so  affecting. 

Breton  de  los  Herreros  is  the  most  popular  dra- 
matic author  of  the  day  in  Spain,  —  perhaps  the  only 
writer  in  the  annals  of  the  drama,  anywhere,  who  has 
ever  received  the  enthusiastic  compliment  of  having  a 
whole  play  encored.  Though  his  fertility  is  quite  equal 
to  his  skill,  there  was  nothing  new  from  him  during  my 
visit.  His  latest  comedy  then,  called  Quien  es  Ella? 
"  Who  is  she  .'  "  —  had  appeared  in  1849,  and  was  occa- 
sionally performed,  though  without  producing  any  great 


212  SPAIN. 

*f 
sensation.     It  was  an  attempt  to  introduce  upon  the 

stage  the  celebrated  writer,  Don  Francisco  de  Quevedo 
y  Villegas,  one  of  the  first  names  in  Spanish  Uterature. 
To  make  an  effective  character,  in  a  work  of  fiction, 
out  of  a  Uterary  man,  is  for  obvious  reasons  no  very 
easy  task  under  any  circumstances  ;  and  although 
Quevedo's  connection  with  public  affairs  gives  some 
interest  of  a  dramatic  nature  to  his  history,  it  is  as  a 
wit,  an  epigrammatist,  a  satirist,  a  poet  of  a  bold  and 
lofty  genius,  that  he  dwells  chiefly  in  the  remembrance 
of  his  countrymen.  With  the  exception  of  Cervantes, 
there  is  probably  no  writer  whose  sayings  are  as  fre- 
quently upon  the  lips  of  the  people,  and  not  even  Cer- 
vantes has  ascribed  to  him  one  tithe  of  the  unwritten 
sayings  which  are  handed  down  by  tradition  as  Que- 
vedo's. Like  Swift,  whom  he  resembles  in  some  par- 
ticulars,—  and  those  not  always  the  most  creditable  to 
either,  —  he  is  as  thoroughly  individualized  by  these 
sayings  as  man  can  be.  While,  therefore,  it  was  easy 
enough  for  so  facile  a  poet  and  clever  an  artist  as  Bre- 
ton to  catch  the  salient  points  of  so  striking  a  charac- 
ter and  mind  and  manner,  it  was  not  so  easy  to  fill 
the  public  idea  of  so  renowned  a  man,  —  to  make  that 
out  of  him  which  every  one  knew  him  to  have  been, 
and  desired  to  see  reproduced.  With  a  great  deal  of 
merit,  therefore,  Quien  es  Ella  ?  fell  short  of  its  purpose, 
and  took  but  little  hold  of  the  public  mind  as  a  play, — 
though  it  very  deservedly  added  to  its  author's  reputa- 
tion as  a  poet  and  scholar.  If  Breton  had  taken  the 
same  view  of  his  own  capacity  which  the  critics  seem 
to  have  adopted,  he  would  probably  not  have  under- 
taken a  work  of  the  sort.     His  plays  are  considered 


SPAIN.  213 

attractive,  more  from  the  grace  and  spriglitlincss  of 
the  dialogue,  and  their  abounding  wit,  tlian  from  their 
delineation  of  character  or  interest  of  plot.  Indeed,  his 
pieces  in  one  act  are,  I  believe,  the  most  popular  ;  mid 
that  he  is  called  the  Scribe  of  Spain  is  some  i)roof 
of  the  general  opinion,  that  the  loftier  walks  of  the 
drama  are  not  those  which  he  treads  most  successfully. 
That  he  has  published  some  sixty  plays,  entitles  him, 
however,  to  a  little  consideration  for  the  faults 

"  Quas  aut  incuria  fudit, 
Aut  humana  parum  cavit  natura." 

The  triumph  of  the  season  was  the  drama  of  Jsahcl 
la  Catolica,  whose  author,  Don  Tomas  Rodriguez  Rubi, 
a  young  poet  from  Malaga,  had  already  won  for  him- 
self a  brilliant  reputation.  It  was  received  with  en- 
thusiasm, night  after  night,  by  crowded  houses,  although 
the  length  of  the  performance,  which  lasted  nearly  five 
hours,  might  well  have  excused  a  more  temperate  dis- 
play of  admiration.  The  author  was  called  out,  as  is 
the  Spanish  custom,  to  receive  wreaths  and  bravos,  and 
even  the  Queen  did  him  the  honor  to  make  one  of  his 
audience.  The  play,  as  its  title  indicates,  is  founded  on 
the  eventful  history  of  the  Catholic  Sovereigns,  —  a 
theme  which  the  learning  and  genius  of  Prescott  give 
us  a  right  to  be  proud  of,  as  in  some  degree  our  own. 
It  seems  to  have  been  the  object  of  Rubi,  to  present  a 
succession  of  striking  historical  pictures,  rather  than  to 
construct  a  regular  drama.  The  plot  —  if  indeed  there 
be  a  definite,  pervading  thread  to  the  story  —  is  at  the 
best  a  rambling  one,  and  the  incidents  are,  certainly, 
quite  treasonable  to  historic  trudi.  Ferdinand,  bad  and 
morose,  is  thrown  entirely  into  the  shade,  as  king  if  not 


214  SPAIN. 

as  husband,  and  Isabella  is  made  the  magnanimous 
victim  of  a  tender  and  reciprocated,  though  innocent, 
passion  for  the  Great  Captain,  Gonzalo  de  Cordova. 
Gonzalo  is  painted  as  a  showy  and  sentimental  hero  of 
romance,  and  Columbus,  who  of  course  appears,  is 
made  to  say  and  do  many  things,  philosophical  and 
geographical  as  well  as  personal,  which  would  have 
astonished  him  quite  as  much  as  his  predictions  mysti- 
fied the  doctors  of  theology. 

There  is,  of  course,  no  particular  reason  why  a  dram- 
atist should  be  held  to  strict  account  for  the  accuracy 
of  all  the  situations  in  which  it  may  please  him  to  de- 
pict historical  personages ;  nor  do  I  conceive  that  he 
is  under  any  obligation,  as  a  matter  of  conscience,  to 
cling  to  the  authentic  chronicles,  as  Mr.  Bisset  has 
stuck  to  the  Annual  Register.  There  are  certain  limits, 
however,  beyond  which  a  popular  writer  cannot  go, 
without  doing  some  harm,  —  certain  landmarks  which 
ought,  by  all  means,  to  be  left  standing.  It  might  be 
proved,  at  this  day,  beyond  the  peradventure  of  Arch- 
bishop Whately's  most  impregnable  logic,  that  Rich- 
ard the  Third  of  England  was  as  ei'ect  in  stature  as 
the  herald  Mercury,  and  as  good  a  king  as  Hamlet's 
father.  Yet  all  the  historical  societies  in  Christendom 
could  not  make  him  otherwise  than  crook-back  and 
tyrant,  as  long  as  Shakspeare  should  continue  to  be 
read  and  listened  to.  Many  good  people,  I  am  sure, 
have  died,  entertaining  impressions,  as  matters  of  faith, 
which  they  supposed  they  had  derived  from  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  so  would  have  fought  for,  but  which  had  no 
better  (and  happily  no  worge)  origin  than  Milton's 
Paradise  Lost.     Where  a  play,  or  any  work  of  fiction, 


SPAIN. 


215 


is  sufTiciently  meritorious  to  become  a  permanent  part 
of  the  national  literature,  and  is  founded  on  an  interesting 
and  important  passage  of  the  national  life,  it  is  the  better 
rule,  certainly,  to  take  as  few  liberties  as  may  be  with 
the  main  historical  fabric,  and  at  all  events  not  to  turn 
the  whole  matter  upside  down.  The  history  of  which 
posterity  has  the  luck  to  get  possession  is,  at  the  best,  but 
a  skeleton,  and  a  poet  has  quite  scope  enough  for  his 
fancy  and  imagination,  in  clothing  it  with  flesh  and  rai- 
ment and  giving  it  the  speech  and  motion  of  a  living 
creature.  There  are  so  many  things,  of  which  the  story 
has  been  left  untold,  and  may,  therefore,  be  told  as  one 
pleases,  that  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  pervert  the  few 
which  have  been  faithfully  handed  down.  If  a  man 
wishes  to  make  his  characters  pure  fictions,  there  is  no 
need  of  his  giving  them  historical  names.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  he  professes  to  write  an  historical  drama,  he 
ought  to  have  something  of  history  in  it,  besides  the 
names  and  the  pictures.  It  was  a  veiy  classical  thing 
in  Canova,  no  doubt,  to  model  a  statue  of  Napoleon, 
naked,  with  a  globe  and  Victory  in  his  right  hand,  —  for 
Napoleon  was  a  man  and  a  conqueror,  and  the  Romans 
commemorated  such  after  that  fashion.  But  it  was  a 
poor  invention  indeed,  and  a  scanty  genius,  (with  defer- 
ence be  it  said,)  which  could  make  nothing  newer  or 
better  than  a  disrobed  Roman  Emperor  out  of  Bona- 
parte and  the  epics  of  which  he  was  the  hero  !  Why 
call  the  marble  by  the  Corsican's  name,  when,  but  for 
the  face,  it  might  have  answered  as  well  for  Titus  or 
Augustus  ?  The  angels,  in  periwigs,  at  the  Caridad 
of  Seville,  may  be  in  worse  taste,  but  are  not  a  whit 
less  characteristic  or  significant. 


216  SPAIN. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  critical  objections  to  Isabel 
la  Catolica,  as  a  specimen  of  dramatic  art,  it  cer- 
tainly has  very  high  merit  as  a  poem,  and  is  full  of  fine 
and  striking  situations.  Its  effect  was,  of  course,  greatly 
assisted  by  the  scenic  accompaniments  and  the  gorgeous 
pageantry  for  which  the  subject  gave  such  scope.  But 
this  was  by  no  means  all.  The  versification  is  stately 
and  heroic  ;  the  poetry,  excellent  throughout,  is,  in  many 
passages,  of  a  high  order  ;  and  the  tone  and  spirit  of 
the  whole  work  are  lofty  and  thoughtful.  The  author, 
as  I  have  said,  was  praised  and  garlanded.  It  will 
hardly  be  believed  that  this  must  have  been  done  by  the 
special  permission  of  the  Jefe  Politico  who,  but  a  day 
or  two  before,  had  published  a  long  edict,  of  which  the 
following  was  an  article  :  — 

"  Sixth.  It  shall  likewise  be  necessary  to  obtain, 
beforehand,  permission  to  throw  verses,  crowns,  or 
flowers  upon  the  stage  in  honor  of  an  artist ;  it  being 
absolutely  forbidden  to  throw  any  other  thing  expressive 
of  satisfaction  or  censure,  and  likewise  for  the  audience 
to  address  words  or  signs  to  the  actors,  as  well  as  for 
the  actors  to  direct  such  to  the  audience." 

The  name  of  the  liberal  and  enlightened  functionaiy 
who  waged  such  war  upon  the  consecrated  prerogatives 
of  the  pit  was  Don  Jose  Zaragoza  ! 

But  the  good  fortune  of  Rubi  was  not  confined  to  the 
relaxation,  in  his  favor,  of  the  Jefe  Politico''s  theatrical 
discipline.  He  received  a  substantial  remuneration  for 
his  labors,  which  spoke  as  well  for  the  public  taste  as 
for  the  liberality  of  the  law  regarding  literary  property. 
The  existing  statutes  on  this  latter  point  prohibit  the 
performance  of  any  play  without  the  author's  consent. 


SPAIN.  217 

and  give  the  copyright  to  him  during  his  Hfe,  with  re- 
mainder to  his  heirs  or  assigns  for  twenty-five  years. 
During  all  this  time  he  and  they  have  the  right  to  exact 
from  the  managers  of  all  theatres  where  the  play  may 
he  performed  a  certain  percentage  on  the  receipts,  and 
to  occupy  or  have  the  control  of  a  cortarn  number  of 
places.  Ten  per  cent,  is  the  rate  allowed,  where  the 
play  has  three  acts  or  more,  and  three  per  cent.,  where 
there  are  but  one  or  two  acts  ;  but  these  rates  are 
doubled  on  the  first  three  nights  of  performance.  From 
this  source,  a  free  benefit,  and  the  printing  of  the  work, 
Rubi  had  realized,  after  the  first  fourteen  nights,  the  sum 
of  thirty-six  thousand  reals,  or  eighteen  hundred  dollars. 
As  the  author  of  the  best  work  performed  during  the 
dramatic  year,  he  received,  according  to  law,  the  pre- 
mium of  five  hundred  dollars.  In  addition  to  this  and 
to  the  emoluments  which  were  likely  to  follow  from 
future  performances,  there  was  settled  on  him,  by  the 
Commissary  of  the  Crusade,  a  yearly  pension  of  four 
hundred  dollars.  The  fund  on  which  the  pension  was 
fixed  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  dispensations,  which  re- 
lieve the  purchasers  from  the  necessity  of  complying 
with  some  of  the  minor  requisitions  of  church  discipline. 
The  Commissary-General  was  of  opinion  that  the  play 
had  contributed,  by  the  elevation  of  its  tone,  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  cause  of  religion,  and  determined  to 
reward  it  accordingly.  May  the  race  of  such  Commis- 
saries never  become  extinct ! 

I  give  these  facts,  as  they  appeared  in  the  news- 
papers at  the  time,  supposing  that  they  will  be  of  in- 
terest to  the  reader,  as  showing  the  public  feeling 
towards    literature    and    the    respectable    inducements 


218  SPAIN. 

which  are  held  out  for  its  cultivation,  at  least  in  one 
department.  So  far  as  such  happy  results  are  due  to 
the  laws,  the  Count  of  San  Luis  is  entitled  to  the  credit 
of  having  produced  them.  They  do  honor  to  his  in- 
telligence and  taste.  If  he  had  been  as  familiar  with 
Hamlet  as  he  is  with  the  dramatic  poetry  of  his  own 
country,  he  could  not  have  more  certainly  provided 
against  that  "ill  report"  of  the  players,  in  his  lifetime, 
than  which  even  "  a  bad  epitaph  "  is  better. 


SPAIN.  219 


XX. 


LiTER.VTrRE.  —  Books,  'Booksellers,  and  Book-Stalls.  — 
Book-Hunting  in  Madrid.  —  Publishers.— Standard 
Works.  —  Historical  and  Geographical  Dictionary 
OF  Madoz.  —  Cheap  Publications.  —  Mr.  Ticknor's 
History  of  Spanish  Literature.  —  Its  Ciiaractlr  and 
Translation.  —  Gayangos.  —  Vedia. 

Were  I  called  upon  to  choose  between  two  cant 
words,  I  should  say,  that,  so  far  as  Madrid  afforded  a 
criterion  and  a  stranger  could  judge,  there  was  more 
"  movement  "  than  "  progress "  in  literature,  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  to  Spain.  A  good  many  works,  orig- 
inal and  translated,  were  issuing  from  the  press,  and 
there  seemed  to  be  a  fair  demand  for  them  and  a  general 
disposition  to  read  them  ;  but  there  was  not  one  really 
good  bookstore  in  the  whole  city,  and  scarcely  a  pub- 
lishing house  of  any  enterprise  or  liberality.  Besides 
this,  and  notwithstanding  the  generally  creditable  style 
of  the  newspapers,  and  their  obvious  disposition  to 
cater  for  a  certain  degree  of  literary  taste  among  their 
readers,  there  was  not  in  Madrid  a  review,  or  maga- 
zine, or  any  literary  periodical  worthy  of  notice. 


220  SPAIN. 

It  is  not  easy  to  imagine  any  thing  much  drearier 
than  a  book-hunt  in  the  Spanish  capital.  The  estab- 
lished boolistores  are,  in  general,  mere  shops,  very  few 
of  which  are  supplied  with  catalogues  ;  the  most  of 
them  being  unprovided,  likewise,  in  the  absence  of  the 
master,  with  any  one  who  has  even  a  speculative  idea  as 
to  what  the  shelves  contain.  You  present  yourself  at  the 
counter,  in  the  rear  of  which  lie  the  treasures.  The 
proprietor  is  not  at  home.  "  Ha  ido  d  la  calk,''''  —  "  He 
has  gone  into  the  street."  His  representative  looks 
around  after  you  have  made  your  inquiry,  shakes  his 
head  slowly,  and  answers,  "  Creo  que  no  !  "  —  "I  be- 
lieve not !  "  It  is  not  worth  while  to  appeal  from  his 
judgment.  Your  doubts  will  convert  his  belief  into  a 
certainty,  and  you  thus  take  your  leave  with  the  most 
abiding  conviction,  that  the  gentleman  who  has  given 
you  your  answer  has  made  it  take  the  negative  form, 
for  no  earthly  reason  but  to  save  himself  the  trouble 
of  a  search.  This  is  the  style  in  the  principal  book- 
stores on  the  main  streets.  It,  however,  fell  within  the 
range  of  my  duties  to  procure,  if  possible,  certain  works 
which  were  somewhat  rare,  and  I  was  compelled,  in 
pursuit  of  them,  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  most  of  the 
depositories  of  old  and  second-hand  works.  As  a 
general  rule,  the  proprietors  of  these  establishments 
have  not  the  remotest  idea  of  the  character  or  value  of 
the  books  which  belong  to  them.  They  buy  them,  of- 
ten, by  the  arroba,  like  old  iron,  or  rags,  or  paper,  and 
arrive,  as  well  as  they  can,  at  the  prices  that  should 
be  asked  for  them,  by  a  series  of  ingenious  experiments 
upon  those  who  desire  to  purchase.  If  they  happen, 
once  in  their  lives,  to  have  had  a  casual  high  bid,  which 


SPAIN.  221 

they  linvc  refused  in  liopc  of  a  liiglier,  ncitlicr  time  nor 
tide  will  ever  induce  them  to  sell  the  book  in  question 
for  any  thing  less,  —  though  it  rot  in  waiting  for  a  cus- 
tomer. The  theory  of  moderate  profits  and  speedy 
sales  forms  no  part  of  their  political  economy.  If  a 
stranger  presents  himself,  the  standard  rises.  He  is 
presumed  not  to  inquire  for  any  thing  but  what  he 
wants,  and  to  be  able  and  willing  to  pay  for  what 
suits  him.  Should  he  be  so  unfortiniate  as  to  look 
twice  at  the  same  book,  he  must  give  up  all  hope  of 
obtaining  it,  except  on  the  owner's  terms.  The  matter 
is  resolved  into  a  question  of  endurance  in  the  book- 
seller's mind,  and  he  regards  it  as  settled  that  he  will 
secure  his  price,  if  he  can  keep  his  patience.  Being  a 
Spaniard,  he  is  quite  equal  to  that. 

A  foreigner  is  not  only  troubled  thus,  himself,  but 
becomes  a  cause  of  trouble  to  others.  The  unhappy 
book-fancier  who  follows  in  his  wake  is  sure  to  find 
the  market  with  an  "  upward  tendency,"  and  to  learn, 
by  way  of  justification,  that  a  caballero  ingJcs  was 
there  the  day  before,  and  was  willing  to  give  greatly 
more  than  the  price  demanded.  Having  myself,  on 
several  occasions,  not  far  apart,  discovered  at  one  of 
these  establishments  certain  works,  which  I  had  been 
lontT  looking  for  and  was  anxious  to  obtain,  —  and  hav- 
ing  very  cheerfully  paid  for  them  what  the  seller  re- 
garded as  a  high  price,  though,  in  view  of  my  objects, 
it  was  very  little,  —  I  was  amused  at  hearing,  from  a 
friend  who  frequented  the  same  stall,  that  books  on  the 
subject  to  which  mine  related  had  of  late  become  very- 
valuable,  as  there  was  a  young  Englishman  in  town, 
who  would  bu}'  them  at  any  price. 


222  SPAIN. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  book-stalls,  where 
curious  books  are  to  be  found,  are  in  the  open  air. 
Sometimes  they  are  arranged  on  shelves  around  a 
court,  or  on  one  side  of  a  plaza,  or  against  a  church,  or 
in  some  entry  or  open  passage.  Now  and  then  they 
occupy  the  ground-floor  of  a  house  in  some  by-street, 
—  the  apartments  which  contain  them  being  only  light- 
ed through  the  doors,  which  are  of  course  left  always 
open.  In  the  latter  case,  you  will  find  the  proprietor, 
in  the  winter  season,  with  cloak  and  hat  on,  sitting  over 
his  brasero,  half  torpid  with  cold.  He  will  give  you 
good  day  when  you  enter,  and  perhaps  go  through 
the  form  of  removing  the  ashes  from  his  coals ;  but 
he  will  rarely  afford  any  other  evidence  that  he  is 
aware  of  your  existence,  unless  you  ask  him  a  ques- 
tion. You  will  soon  find,  in  most  cases,  that  the  best 
way  of  ascertaining  what  you  desire  to  know  is  to 
examine  for  yourself,  and  you  will  accordingly  prose- 
cute your  inspection,  until  your  blood  and  curiosity  fall 
below  the  freezing  point.  You  will  then  bid  him  "  Re- 
main with  God  ! "  and  he  will  tell  you,  in  reply,  to 
"  Go  with  God  !  "  so  that  you  and  your  errand  will  be 
to  him,  when  you  depart,  the  mystery  you  were  when 
you  entered. 

When  the  stall  is  entirely  open  to  the  weather,  the 
owner  sometimes  has  a  sort  of  small  sentry-box,  to 
hold  himself  and  his  brasero  with  the  most  valuable  of 
his  properties, — sometimes  he  keeps  watch  and  ward 
from  the  window  of  his  lodgings,  near  the  roof  of  an 
opposite  tenement,  —  sometimes  he  walks  up  and  down, 
muy  e/nbozado,  in  his  cloak.  It  is  a  rare  thing  for 
him  to  manifest  any  more  interest  in  your  proceedings, 


SPAIN.  223 

than  a  sentinel  at  tlie  door  of  a  picture-gallery.  If  you- 
keep  the  peace,  and  neither  damage  nor  steal  any  thing, 
he  does  not  appear  to  think  that  he  has  any  concern 
with  you.  I  confess  that,  on  the  whole,  I  was  not  dis- 
pleased at  being  thus  left  entirely  to  myself.  The 
modern  system  of  salesman5ihip  has  become  so  much 
like  persecution  reduced  to  a  science,  that  it  is  quite  a 
luxury  to  be  allowed  the  use  of  your  own  discretion, 
without  being  dragooned,  by  a  shopkeeper's  deputy, 
into  looking  at  what  you  do  not  care  to  see,  or  buying 
what  you  would  not  have.  A  man  in  his  sane  mincl, 
with  the  usual  organs  of  speech,  has  a  right  to  be  treated 
as  if  he  knows  what  he  wants  and  is  able  to  ask  for  it. 
At  the  same  time,  I  am  willing  to  admit,  that,  when  he 
does  make  a  demand  for  information,  he  is  entitled  to 
receive  it  in  a  somewhat  more  explicit  and  reliable 
shape  than  the  mass  of  a  Madrid  lihrero''s  explana- 
tions. 

It  is  not  very  likely  that  a  mode  of  bookselling,  so 
far  behind  the  locomotive  style  of  traffic  which  the 
century  has  brought  forth,  will  long  continue,  even  in 
the  lonely  by-places  and  chilly  courts  of  iMadrid.  An 
intelligent  Catalan,  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  had  already 
established  a  shop  on  the  Calle  de  Alcala,  near  the 
Prado,  where  he  purchased  second-hand  books  of  all 
sorts,  to  sell,  not  to  keep.  He  advertised,  every  morn- 
ing, his  principal  acquisitions  of  the  day  before,  with 
the  prices,  usually  moderate,  at  which  he  was  prepared 
to  dispose  of  them.  The  result  was,  that  it  was  neces- 
sary^o  be  early  on  the  ground,  if  you  desired  to  se- 
cure your  bargains.  Books  of  rarity  and  value  were 
constantly  passing  through  his  hands,  and  I  am  sure 


224  SPAIN. 

that  he  sold,  in  a  month,  more  than  a  year's  trade  of 
all  his  cloak-wearing  competitors  put  together.  His 
advantage  consisted  in  knowing  something  about  his 
books  and  his  business,  and  in  being  willing  to  put  up 
with  a  small  advance,  for  the  sake  of  turning  over  his 
capital.  Time  was,  when  even  Spaniards  themselves 
were  compelled  to  send  to -London  in  search  of  Span- 
ish books  which  were  really  scarce.  The  agents  of 
the  London  trade  were  always  on  the  alert  in  the  Span- 
ish cities,  and  if  any  thing  worth  having  found  its  way 
to  the  stalls,  —  as,  in  the  changes  of  those  days,  was 
constantly  happening,  —  they  had  every  chance  to  cap- 
ture it,  before  ordinary  purchasers  could  know  any 
thing  about  it.  The  Catalan  of  the  Alcala  will  put 
a  stop  to  this,  if  he  has  not  done  so  already.  His  con- 
stant demand  must  afford  him  the  control  of  the  market, 
and  the  publication  of  his  lists  will  give  the  race  to  the 
swiftest.  The  example  he  has  set,  of  intelligence  and 
enterprise,  cannot  fail,  by  its  success,  to  open  the  eyes 
of  the  booksellers  proper,  and  perhaps  stir  them  from 
their  ancient  stagnation.  Before  I  left  the  city,  it  had 
begun  to  teach  them  lessons  in  the  philosophy  of  ad- 
vertising, and  there  was  an  almost  daily  increase  in 
the  number  and  extent  of  the  notices  of  book-sales 
which  headed  the  columns  of  the  Diario  de  Avisos. 

It  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  the  unpromising  picture 
thus  drawn,  that  the  press  of  Madrid  was  altogether 
idle,  or  the  hunter  of  books  entirely  without  resources. 
The  best  French  works,  standard  and  ephemeral,  to- 
gether with  Baudry's  republications  from  the  English, 
and  a  fair  collection  of  Spanish  books,  could  be  found 
at  Monier's  on  the  Carrera  de  San  Geronimo.     It  may 


SPAIN.  225 

be  interesting  to  the  reader  to  know  that  the  oily  old 
man,  with  a  pen  in  his  mouth,  who  does  the  chief  hon- 
ors of  tliat  place,  is  the  proprietor  of  the  night-capped 
head  and  the  "  torso  adorned  with  a  shirt,"  which  were 
thrust  out  a  window  to  welcome  M.  Dumas  to  Madrid, 
on  the  morninj;  when  the  illustrious  Alexandre  found 
himself  in  a  strange  court,  where  two  women  and  five 
cats  were  sittinc  round  a  hrasero  !  There  were  two 
or  three  shops,  besides,  on  the  Calle  de  Carretas,  not 
far  from  the  Puerta  del  Sol,  where  the  best  Spanish 
standarci  works,  and  occasionally  some  new  publica- 
tions, were  sold,  with  great  dignity  and  severity,  at  the 
most  inflexibly  high  prices.  It  was  next  to  impossible, 
however,  so  far  as  modern  books  were  concerned,  to 
find  a  copy  of  any  publication  for  sale,  except  at  the 
shop  of  the  publisher.  Getting  out  a  work,  of  any 
size  or  character,  was  considered  as  forming  quite  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  the  house,  and  for  the  pride  of 
the  thing,  —  as  well  perhaps  as  for  the  sake  of  realiz- 
ing all  the  profits  of  a  limited  market,  —  every  man 
seemed  disposed  to  monopolize  the  control  of  his  own 
handiwork. 

The  publishing  establishment  of  "  Xrt  FuMicidad,'''' 
on  the  Calle  do  Correos,  was  probably  the  most  exten- 
sive in  Madrid.  It  certainly  gave  greater  evidences  of 
vitality  than  any  other,  in  the  number  and  style  of  its 
issues,  as  well  as  their  literary  caste.  Two  series,  which 
were  well  advanced  in  1850,  were  sufficient  to  give  char- 
acter to  the  concern.  These  were  a  republication  of 
the  best  standard  writers,  from  the  formation  of  the  lan- 
guage to  the  present  day,  —  and  another,  of  the  Codigos 
Espcmoles,  —  the   main  body  of  Spanish  written  law. 

15 


226 


SPAIN. 


Of  the  first-named  series,  nineteen  or  twenty  octavo  vol- 
umes, out  of  the  forty-five  in  preparation,  have  already 
appeared,  and  the  first  edition  of  several  of  the  works 
had  been  absorbed  so  speedily,  that  a  second  was  about 
to  be  issued  while  I  was  in  Spain.  The  reprint  of  the 
Codigos  was  far  advanced,  and  the  volumes  which  had 
been  printed  were  edited  with  learning  and  care,  under 
the  direction  of  the  most  distinguished  jurists  and  legal 
antiquaries  of  Madrid.  The  Count  of  San  Luis,  with  his 
usual  solicitude  for  the  advancement  of  letters,  —  when 
they  did  not  interfere  with  "  order,"  or  meddle  with 
ministers,  or  their  doings  or  places,  —  gave  the  Codigos 
the  full  encouragement  and  support  of  his  Department. 
He  issued  an  order,  directing  all  the  municipalities 
representing  two  hundred  householders  or  more  to 
subscribe  to  the  work,  and  credit  themselves  for  the 
subscription  on  their  tax  accounts.  All  the  employes^ 
"  active  and  passive,"  of  the  government,  pensioners 
as  well  as  office-holders,  were  authorized,  by  royal  or- 
der, to  have  their  subscriptions  paid,  if  they  should 
choose  to  make  them,  out  of  the  arrears  of  their  pen- 
sions and  salaries.  After  reading  the  sad  though  hu- 
morous  and  graceful  descriptions  of  the  '■'■  cesantes ''"' 
and  the  "  clases  pasivas  "  by  Gil  y  Zarate,  one  hardly 
knows  whether  to  smile  or  sigh  over  the  fate  of  the 
poor  people  to  whom  the  royal  order  was  so  gracious. 
After  living  or  starving  on  promises  and  hope,  they 
must  have  found  great  consolation,  in  the  absence  of 
food  and  fire,  from  being  permitted  to  refresh  them- 
selves, out  of  their  unpaid  pittances,  with  quarto  copies 
of  the  laws  of  the  Visigoths  !  The  learned  juriscon- 
sults of  the  Middle  Ages  should  certainly  not  be  offended 


SPAIN.  1227 

at  finding  themselves  gathered  together  in  the  pawn- 
brokers' shops,  like  Bible-Society  bibles  on  the  gin- 
counters  in  London  ! 

Tlie  same  sort  of  encouragement  had  been  lent  by 
the  govcnuTicnt  to  the  eminent  Pros;restsfa  Deputy, 
Don  Pascual  Madoz,  in  aid  of  his  publication  which  I 
have  already  mentioned,  —  the  "  Geographical,  Statis- 
tical, and  Historical  Dictionary  of  Spain  and  her  De- 
pendencies." This  is  not  the  place  for  notices  of 
books,  but  the  work  of  Madoz  well  deserves  to  be  re- 
ferred to,  as  indicating  both  the  existence  and  encour- 
agement, in  Spain,  of  a  high  degree  of  literary  energy 
and  spirit.  In  a  country,  where  every  facility  existed, 
—  where  statistical  details  were  regularly  collected  and 
made  accessible,  —  where  there  was  constant  inter- 
course between  the  various  districts,  and  where  uni- 
versal education  and  an  active  and  intelligent  press  had 
been  long  at  work,  —  even  there,  it  would  have  been 
no  easy  matter  to  do  justice  to  the  promises  made  on 
Don  I'ascual's  title-page.  With  scarcely  any  of  those 
circumstances  to  aid  him,  he  has  nevertheless  kept 
himself  fully  up  to  the  level  of  his  task.  Fifteen  large 
octavo  volumes,  the  fruit  of  fifteen  active  and  toilsome 
years,  had  already  appeared,  when  I  left  Spain,  and 
but  one  more  was  wanting,  to  complete  the  publication. 
As  fur  as  it  had  gone,  it  was,  with  great  propriety, 
styled,  by  the  Madrid  journals,  "  a  monumental  work." 
There  was  not  a  village  or  a  parish  in  the  kingdom 
omitted.  In  regard  to  all,  the  details  were  as  copious 
as  could  be  desired.  The  historical  notices  were  writ- 
ten with  impartiality  «nd  fulness,  —  the  political,  artis- 
tic, and  antiquarian  dissertations,  with  liberality,  taste, 


228  SPAIN. 

and  learning.  Statistical  information  of  the  most  varied 
character  —  collected  by  the  author  himself,  whose  par- 
liamentary career  is  notable  for  his  accuracy  in  such 
matters  —  was  for  the  first  time  given  to  the  world. 
Commercial,  agricultural,  scientific,  and  professional 
knowledge,  of  a  high  grade,  made  the  Dictionary  valu- 
able as  an  authority,  no  less  than  as  a  compendium  for 
common  reference.  The  literary  merit  of  the  whole 
was  as  considerable  as  its  other  recommendations,  and 
it  may  indeed  be  doubted  whether  any  other  country 
possesses  at  this  day  a  more  worthy  and  complete 
epitome  of  itself.  It  is  the  more  remarkable,  too,  from 
the  fact,  that  in  the  midst  of  duties  so  multifarious  as 
its  preparation  must  have  imposed,  and  principally  on 
himself  in  person,  the  author  has  been  active  as  a  pol- 
itician, and  prominent  and  useful  as  a  legislator  and 
statesman.  Few  orators  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
carried  more  weight  than  he.  None  had  more  readi- 
ness, more  energy,  or  a  larger  stock  of  the  manageable 
information  which  tells  in  debate.  He  was  one  of  the 
leadei-s  of  the  liberal  party,  and  had,  as  he  deserved, 
its  confidence  ;  although,  as  he  did  not  make  a  trade  of 
politics,  and  was  not  afraid  to  say  and  do  what  he 
thought  right,  he  was  occasionally  regarded  as  "  im- 
practicable," —  an  epithet  applied  in  Spain,  as  out  of 
it,  to  the  political  riders  who  will  not  jockey  to  win. 
In  fine,  he  was  one  of  the  best  illustrations  extant  of 
the  Catalan  character,  — 

"  Impiger,  iracundus,  inexorabilis,  acer,"  — 

morally,  intellectually,  and  in  action. 

In  the  "  Glimpses  of  Spain  "  I  had  occasion  to  remark 


SPAIN. 


229 


that  the  system  of  cheap  publications,  in  numbers,  had 
extended  itself  to  Spain,  and  had  been  the  means,  as  with 
us,  of  flooding  the  country  with  all  manner  of  worth- 
less and  prurient  trash.  In  Madrid  this  was  particu- 
larly conspicuous.  The  appetite  for  all  things  French 
which  prevailed  there  caused  the  novels  from  Paris  to 
be  chief  in  demand,  and  an  activity  of  the  press,  which 
might  have  produced  an  indefinite  difTusion  of  useful 
and  elevating  knowledge  and  have  given  a  permanent 
impulse  to  the  national  literature,  was  wasted  on  trans- 
lations of  the  very  worst  and  most  pernicious  of  the 
feuilletons.  During  the  discussions  in  the  Cortes  upon 
the  subject  of  reducing  the  postage  on  printed  mat- 
ter, one  of  the  most  respectable  journals  took  occasion 
to  insist,  that  it  was  tlie  policy  of  the  government  to 
discourage,  rather  than  to  favor,  the  diffusion  of  the 
publications  which  the  measure  would  most  afl'cct.  It 
was  but  a  scheme,  the  writer  said,  "to  give  scanty 
alms  to  hungry  translators,  —  to  put  a  premium  on 
rendering  bad  French  imto  worse  Spanish."  There 
was,  I  think,  a  general  concurrence  of  opinion  among 
the  best-informed  men,  to  the  same  effect.  It  seemed 
to  be  the  impression,  that  as  long  as  the  booksellers 
could  find  a  ready  market  for  foreign  extravagances, 
which  cost  them  nothing,  they  would  continue  to  hold 
back  from  the  literary  labor  of  their  own  country  the 
encouragement  for  which  it  was  suffering  so  much. 
The  activity  which  was  displayed  in  the  circulation  of 
the  bane,  seemed  to  have  stimulated  an  equal  zeal  in 
the  preparation  of  the  antidote.  A  literary  friend  in- 
formed me  that  the  "  Key  to  Paradise  "  was  perhaps 
the  only  book  which  divided  the  suffrages  of  the  trade 
with  the  "  Mysteries  of  Paris." 


230 


SPAIN. 


When  I  left  Madrid,  the  admirable  "  History  of  Span- 
ish Literature,"  by  our  countryman,  Mr.  George  Tick- 
nor,  was  in  the  hands  of  Don  Pascual  de  Gayangos,  the 
celebrated  Arabic  scholar  and  antiquarian,  and  his  friend 
Don  Enrique  Vedia,  a  gentleman  of  fine  taste  and  ac- 
complishments, for  translation.  Although  it  was  impos- 
sible for  any  work  to  have  received  more  unqualified 
commendation,  from  the  whole  body  of  Spanish  literati, 
than  Mr.  Ticknor's  history,  and  although  the  translators 
were  men  of  the  highest  merit  and  reputation,  there 
was  great  difficulty,  nevertheless,  in  finding  a  publisher 
with  sufficient  spirit  to  take  any  liberal  share  in  the  en- 
terprise. I  have  since  seen  a  copy  of  the  first  volume, 
very  elegantly  printed,  and  bearing  date  at  Madrid,  but 
whether  the  publishing  houses  were  entitled  to  any  of 
the  credit  of  its  production  I  have  not  learned.  Their 
unwillingness  to  engage  in  the  adventure  was  a  con- 
spicuous illustration  of  their  want  of  liberality  and  taste, 
—  as  well,  perhaps,  as  of  a  similar  defect  in  the  book- 
buying  public.  There  is,  in  the  Spanish  language,  no 
thorough  history  of  the  national  literature.  The  only 
native  work  that  I  am  acquainted  with,  which  professes 
to  give  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  subject,  at  any 
length,  is  the  Resumen  Hist6rico,  forming  part  of  the 
Manual  de  Literatura,  published  in  1844  by  Gil  y  Za- 
rate,  for  the  instruction  of  youth.  It  was  not,  of  course, 
at  all  within  the  scope  of  such  a  work  to  meet  the 
requisitions  of  an  accurate  scholarship.  Sismondi's  bril- 
liant though  superficial  treatise  has  been  translated,  and 
was  published  at  Seville,  some  ten  years  ago,  but  is  not, 
I  believe,  to  be  readily  obtained.  Of  the  translation  of 
Bouterwek's  more   learned  and   profound,  though  still 


SPAT>f.  231 

imperfect  work,  only  a  single  volume  has  seen  the  light. 
This  was  published,  with  many  valuable  annotations,  in 
1829  ;  an  epoch  at  which  there  was,  unhappily,  but 
little  encouragement  in  Spain  for  labors  of  the  sort. 
The  length  of  time  which  has  elapsed,  since  its  cold  and 
discouraging  reception,  of  course  precludes  all  hope  of 
the  work's  being  completed.  Amador  de  los  Rios,  one 
of  its  editors  and  the  author  of  t\  book  of  some  repu- 
tation, on  the  History  of  the  Jews  in  Spain,  was  said  to 
be  engaged,  in  1850,  on  a  work  of  his  own,  upon  the 
same  subject.  It  was  generally  believed,  however,  that 
he  was  not  altogether  suited  to  the  task. 

Mr.  Ticknor's  History  is  every  thing  that  could  be 
desired,  to  supply  what  is  thus  felt,  in  Spain,  to  be  a 
pressing  literary  want.  It  is  a  history  of  books,  as  well 
as  of  literature.  The  variety,  completeness,  and  accu- 
racy of  its  details  were  —  as  I  had  occasion  to  know  — 
a  source  of  gratified  surprise  to  the  most  learned  of  the 
Spanish  literary  archceologists.  The  acuteness  and 
profundity  of  its  criticisms,  and  its  perfect  comprehen- 
sion and  appreciation  of  the  Spanish  mind  and  taste 
and  spirit,  were  regarded  by  the  most  eminent  of  the 
native  writers  and  thinkers  as  all  that  a  Spaniard  could 
have  been  able  to  attain,  and  next  to  miraculous  in  a 
foreigner.  A  distinguished  man  of  letters  —  whose 
opinion  would  be  regarded  as  oracular  in  Spain,  and 
whose  familiar  acquaintance  with  French  and  English 
literature  rendered  the  basis  of  his  judgment  as  broad 
as  that  of  almost  any  one  —  told  me  that  he  regarded 
Mr.  Ticknor's  work  as  "  the  best  history  of  a  litera- 
ture "  that  he  had  ever  seen.  With  the  prestige  of  all 
this  in  its  favor,  —  and  the  security,  besides,  that  any 


232  SPAIN. 

accidental  error  or  omission  would  be  certainly  reme- 
died or  supplied  by  the  translators,  —  so  that  the  book 
could,  at  once,  pass  from  their  hands  into  a  standard 
authority,  —  its  publication  was  hindered,  nevertheless, 
by  the  difficulties  to  which  I  have  referred.  That  it 
should  have  appeared,  at  last,  in  spite  of  them,  is  cer- 
tainly creditable  to  the  zeal  and  energy  of  the  editors, 
and  bespeaks  a  confidence  in  the  literary  discernment 
of  the  community,  which  augurs  something  better  for 
the  future. 


SPAIN,  233 


XXI. 

QiiNTANA.  —  The  Jckta  Cextr.vi,.  —  Qltxtana's  Political 

AND  LlTEUARY  LlFE    AND    \VoUK3.  —  NiCASIO   GaLLEGO. — 

His  Political  Career  and  Poems.  —  Debates  on  the 
Inquisition.  —  Clerical  Liberalitv.  —  Dos  de  Mayo. 
—  Martinez  de  la  Rosa.  —  His  Political  and  Literary 
Life  and  Works.  —  Estatuto  Real. 

Of  the  eminent  literary  persons  whose  career  began 
before  the  revolutions  of  the  present  century,  and 
whose  works  are  numbered  among  the  classics  of  the 
language,  there  survive  now,  in  Madrid,  but  two,  Don 
Manuel  Josef  Quintana  and  Don  Juan  Nicasio  Gallego. 
The  one  a  civilian,  the  other  a  priest,  —  both  of  them 
poets  and  both  prominent  in  political  service,  —  they 
have  the  further  bond  of  a  common  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  rational  liberty  and  of  common  suffering  for 
their  efforts  to  establish  and  maintain  it. 

Quintana  was  born  in  1772,  and  educated  at  Sala- 
manca, under  the  direction  of  Melendez  Valdez.  He 
did  not  devote  himself  long  or  actively  to  the  profession 
of  die  law,  though  it  continued  to  be  his  nominal  pur- 
suit, but  soon  became  one  of  the  little  band  of  men 


234  SPAIN. 

of  letters  whose  lea<Jer  —  and  in  some  sort  patron  — 
was  the  wise  and  accomplished  Jovellanos.     Of  his  first 
productions,  which  were  dramatic,  the  tragedy  of  "  Don 
Pelayo  "  gave  him  earliest  distinction.     A  volume  of 
lyric    poetry,  published  about  the  same    time,  full  of 
noble  inspiration  and  a  burning,  lofty  patriotism,  com- 
mended him  still  further  to  the  love  and  admiration  of 
his  countrymen.     These  works  were  followed  by  a  vol- 
ume of  lives  of  celebrated  Spaniards,  to  which,  of  later 
years,  he  has  added  several  biographies,  remarkable  for 
their  learning,  grace,  and  historic  impartiality.     In  1808 
he  gave  to  the  press  several  volumes  of  selections  from 
Spanish  poetry,   commencing  at  the  days  of  Juan  de 
Mena  and   embracing  the  choicest  productions   of  the 
best  masters,  with   historical  and   critical  annotations. 
The  convulsions  which  followed  the  invasion  of  Napole- 
on drove  Quintana  at  once  into  the  arena  of  active  and 
troubled  life.     The  position  of  Secretary  to  the  Junta 
Central,  which  he  was  called  to  fill,  was  perhaps  the 
most  important  civil  station,  at  that  time,  in  the  public 
gift,  and  to  the  ability  with  which  Quintana  discharged 
its  duties,  and  the  eloquence   and  power  of  the  state 
papers  which  came  from  his  hands,   was   attributable 
mainly  the  hold  of  the  Junta  upon  public  confidence. 
"  It  was  a  happy  selection   for  that  body,"  says  the 
Count  of  Toreno,  in  his  History.    "  The  public  opinion  of 
the  Junta,  and  of  its  plans  and  ideas,  was  formed  from 
the  masterly  expositions  of  the  Secretary."     Certainly 
no   writer  of  his  day  was  capable  of  addressing  to  the 
people  appeals  so  stirring  as  those  with  which,  in  po- 
etry and  prose,  he  kindled  and  sustained  the  national 
enthusiasm. 


SPAIN.  235 

With  the  (io\vnf;ill  of  the  coiistitutior)  in  Ifill,  fell  the 
Cortes  of  which  Quintana  was  a  conspicuous  member, 
and  the   day  of   tribulation  btgan  for  him,  as  for  all 
the  ablest  and  worthiest  of  his  countrymen.     He  was 
thrown  into  a  cell   in  the  fortress  of  Pamplona,  —  cut 
off  from  books  and  friends,  and  even  denied  the  use  of 
writing  materials,  —  until  the  constitutional  reaction  of 
1820.     Upon  that  revival  of  free  institutions,  he  was 
at  once  elevated  to  the  Directorship  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion,—  an   office   created  by  the  constitution,  and,  in 
the  hands  of  a  statesman  so  enlightened  and  liberal  as 
Quintana,  one  of  the   mightiest  engines  of  national  re- 
generation.    The  public  acts  of  those  days  attest  the 
wisdom  and   comprehensiveness  of  his   ideas  and  ad- 
ministration, and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  were 
seeds  of  knowledge  and  sound   doctrine  sown  among 
the  people,  during  the  short  reign  of  his  system,  which 
have  sprung  up  to  the  best  fruit  in  more  recent  times. 
The  reestablishmcnt  of  despotism,  in   1823,  of  course 
put  an  end  to  Quintana's  public  labors.     He  was  fortu- 
nate in  being  allowed  to  cultivate  his  literary  tastes  in 
a  quiet  and  distant  province,  where  he  remained  until 
1833,  when  the  death  of  Ferdinand  the  Seventh  recalled 
him  to  his  old  duties,  and  threw  on  him  new  honors. 
Created  a  member  of  the  House  of  Proceres  (or  Peers) 
under  the  Estatuto  Real,  he  prepared,  in  1836,  in  con- 
junction with  Gallego  and  others,  a  plan  of  public  in- 
struction, which  was  adopted  by  the  government.     In 
his  legislative  capacity  he  was  the  author  of  many  able 
reports  upon  important  political  and  economical  ques- 
tions, and  when  the  present  constitutional  system  was 
finally  adopted,  he  was  made  a  Senator.     During  the 


236 


SPAIN. 


minority  of  Queen  Isabella,  he  was  intrusted  with  the 
direction  of  her  education,  and  he  is  now  President  of 
the  Council  of  Public  Instruction.  Of  the  distinguished 
positions  to  which  he  has,  from  time  to  time,  been 
called,  severaJ  have  been  the  gift  of  administrations 
and  parties  to  which  he  was  opposed,  —  an  honorable 
tribute  to  his  ability  and  patriotism,  and  to  the  consist- 
ent integrity  with  which  he  has  clung  to  the  political 
principles  of  his  early  manhood.  The  persecutions  and 
privations  of  a  troubled  life,  and  the  insensible  but 
steady  change  which  is  wrought  in  most  men  by  the 
experience  of  years  and  of  human  affairs,  have  done 
little  towards  extinguishing  the  enthusiasm  of  the  vet- 
eran Progresisla.  While  others  —  and  many  of  them 
among  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  original  constitu- 
tionalists—  have  been  tempted  by  the  love  of  place  or 
repose,  or  driven  by  their  disgust  for  popular  fickleness 
and  ingratitude,  almost  into  the  arms  of  the  system 
which  they  once  abhorred,  he  has  remained  as  he  be- 
gan. Too  able  and  too  clear-sighted  to  have  overlooked 
the  follies  of  his  party,  he  has  had  the  wisdom  to  fore- 
see and  the  patience  to  await  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
the  permanent  over  the  transient. 

If  the  bulk  of  Quintana's  literary  productions  is  less 
than  might  have  been  expected  from  his  long  and  in- 
dustrious life,  it  is  because  during  the  greater  part  of  it 
he  has  sacrificed  the  leisure  and  tastes  of  a  scholar  to 
the  sterner  duties  of  a  patriot.  In  the  preface  to  an 
edition  of  his  poems,  in  1821,  he  speaks  of  several 
works  which  he  had  already  nearly  completed,  when 
the  war  of  the  Peninsula  broke  out.  "  Since  then," 
he  says,  "  the  duty  of  devoting  myself  to  labors  of  a 


SPAIN.  2'n 

for  difTcrent  kind,  the  necessity  of  moving  constantly 
from  place  to  place,  aiul  the  whirlwind  of  misfortune, 
persecution,  and  imprisonment,  which  has  raged  around 
me,  have  scattered  my  manuscripts,  consumed  the  best 
years  of  my  life,  and  set  my  literary  plans  at  naught. 
The  present  circumstances  of  the  country  render  it 
impossible  for  me  to  renew  these  last.  Other  writers 
vyill  fall  upon  calmer  times,  and  doubtless  will  be 
blessed  with  better  fortune."  In  the  edition  of  Quinta- 
na's  works  which  has  recently  been  published,  as  a  part 
of  the  series  of  standard  authors  referred  to  in  the  last 
chapter,  there  appear,  for  the  first  time,  a  number  of 
letters  addressed  by  him  to  Lord  Holland,  in  1823  and 
1824,  and  containing  a  history  of  the  curious  and  im- 
portant political  events  of  that  day.  Additional  value 
is  given  to  them  by  a  striking  analysis  of  the  political 
history  of  Spain,  from  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Third 
down  to  the  period  at  which  the  letters  were  written. 
Upon  this  subject,  and  more  especially  in  reference  to 
the  incidents  which  passed  under  the  author's  personal 
observation,  the  letters  are  a  valuable  contribution  to 
the  history  of  the  century.  The  epoch  is  one  of  which 
little  is  truly  known  out  of  Spain,  and  in  regard  to 
which  but  little  that  is  worth  reading  has  been  written 
there.  The  work  of  the  Marquis  of  Miraflores,  which 
is  the  principal  source  of  information,  is  executed  in 
the  most  partial  and  illiberal  spirit,  as  if  its  author  had 
but  one  idea  in  producing  it,  —  that  of  recanting  and 
atoning  for  all  his  previous  enthusiasm  in  behalf  of  lib- 
eral and  rational  ideas. 

In  passing  to  and  from  my  apartments  in  the  House 
of  Cordero,  on  the  Calle  de  Pontcjos,  I  had  often  given 


238  SPAIN. 

place  upon  the  stairs  to  a  venerable  gentleman,  appar- 
ently in  robust  health,  of  fine  stature,  and  full  of  en- 
ergy and  vigor.  The  habit  —  soon  acquired  abroad,  if 
it  be  not  natural  —  of  meddling  but  little  with  other 
people  and  their  affairs,  had  prevented  my  making  any 
inquiries  in  regard  to  him,  and  I  had  been  more  than  a 
month  in  the  same  house  with  Sr.  Quintana,  and  hear- 
ing his  footsteps  at  night  in  the  apartments  above  me, 
without  knowing  that  he  was  my  neighbor.  The  hap- 
py accident  through  which  I  made  the  discovery  was 
the  means,  also,  of  giving  me  the  honor  of  his  ac- 
quaintance, under  favorable  auspices.  It  was  a  gratifi- 
cation which  I  should  ill  repay,  were  I  to  say  more 
than  that  he  is  surrounded  in  his  old  age  by  all  the 
appliances  which  can  make  the  enjoyment  of  a  man  of 
taste,  education,  and  moderate  desires,  —  the  centre  of  a 
circle  of  quiet  and  cultivated  friends,  whose  regard  is 
dearer  to  him  than  the  public  homage,  and  from  whom 
his  learning,  accomplishments,  and  virtues  win  rever- 
ence as  profound  as  their  affection.  Few  poets  have 
lived  to  realize  such  pleasant  disappointment  as  he,  — 
in  comparing  the  actual  decline  of  his  life  with  the 
melancholy  anticipations  expressed  in  his  "  Farewell 
to  Youth."  Few  public  men  have  lived  through  so 
many  storms,  to  see  the  shadows  fall  so  peacefully  on 
so  serene  an  evening. 

Though  but  five  years  the  junior  of  Quintana,  Ni- 
casio  Gallego  belongs,  in  a  literary  point  of  view,  to 
a  later  epoch.  Scarcely  any  of  his  most  admired 
poems  were  given  to  the  public  until  after  Quintana's 
reputation  had  become  national.  During  the  French  in- 
vasion, he  was  too  busily  occupied  with  public  affairs  to 
"  meditate  the  thankless  Muse." 


SPAIN.  2'M) 

In  the  upheaving  of  all  things  uld,  ;ui<l  the  confusion 
of  things  new  and  old  as  well,  which  made  that  period 
remarkable  in  Spain,  the  Junta  Central,  which  had  the 
reins  of  the  provisional  government,  was  overwhelmed 
with  projects  of  legal  and  constitutional  reform.  All 
the  political  theorists  in  the  land  had  set  their  heads 
and  hands  industriously  to  work,  and  all  the  subordi- 
nate juntas  and  pragmatical  corporations  sent  in  their 
recipes  for  the  preparation  of  Uto[iias,  warranted  to 
last.  To  give  to  these  multiform  schemes  the  consider- 
ation to  which  they  were  entitled,  on  the  score  of  mer- 
it or  policy,  and  to  cull  from  among  them  such  as 
might  be  worthy  to  be  ingrafted  on  the  permanent  leg- 
islation of  the  country,  was  of  course  impossible  for 
an  administrative  body,  in  the  throbs  and  throes  of  a 
revolution.  A  board  was  accordingly  constituted  for 
that  purpose,  and  Nicasio  Gallego  was  one  of  its  most 
prominent  and  useful  members.  To  the  Cortes  of 
1810  he  was  an  active  and  able  Deputy,  and  distin- 
guished himself,  especially,  by  his  zeal  in  advocating 
and  perfecting  the  laws  which  secured  the  freedom  of 
the  press.  His  reported  speech  against  the  proposition 
to  establish  a  censorship  is  full  of  large  ideas  and  a 
manly  and  liberal  philosophy.  It  is  the  more  deserv- 
ing of  note,  as  the  production  of  an  ecclesiastic,  con- 
troverting the  narrower  views  which  were  urged,  in  the 
name  of  religion,  by  others  of  his  class.  Justice,  how- 
ever, requires  it  to  be  said,  in  this  connection,  that  there 
was  no  measure  before  the  Cortes  of  those  days,  in- 
volving the  popular  freedom  and  its  guaranties,  which 
did  not  find  among  the  clergy  who  were  Deputies 
some  of  its  most  able  and  strenuous  supporters.     Of 


240  SPAIN. 

this  fact  the  discussion  in  regard  to  the  Inquisition  fur- 
nishes a  curious  and  instructive  illustration,  well  wor- 
thy the  attention  of  those,  who  think  and  write  as  if 
the  odor  of  a  roasted  heretic  were  the  only  sweet- 
smelling  savor  in  the  Spanish  clerical  nostrils. 

Services  so  eminent  and  patriotic  as  those  of  Gallego 
could  not  escape  the  vengeance  of  Ferdinand,  and 
upon  the  return  of  his  Majesty,  Don  Nicasio  was  made 
the  victim  of  a  state  prosecution  which  lasted  eighteen 
months,  and  ended  in  his  imprisonment,  for  four  years, 
in  the  Carthusian  Convent  of  Jerez,  without  even  the 
decent  formality  of  a  judicial  sentence.  From  Jerez 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Convent  of  Loreto,  in  the 
midst  of  awilderness  not  many  leagues  from  Seville. 
His  Muse,  always  sluggish,  was  not  greatly  quickened 
by  these  vicissitudes  ;  but  the  few  poems  which  saw  the 
light  during  his  confinement  are  among  the  best  of  his 
productions. 

On  the  return  of  the  liberal  party  to  power,  in  1820, 
Gallego  received  a  distinguished  ecclesiastical  prefer- 
ment, of  which  Ferdinand  took  the  earliest  occasion  to 
deprive  him,  when  the  wheel  again  went  round.  A 
life  of  trial  and  humiliation  was  the  lot  of  the  poet  for 
the  next  ten  years,  during  which  he  had  an  opportunity 
of  tasting  the  bitterness  of  that  exile  shared  by  so 
many  of  his  countrymen,  and  by  himself  so  touchingly 
described  :  — 

"  Otros,  gimiendo  por  su  patria  amada, 
El  agua  beben  de  estranjeros  rios, 
Mil  veces  con  sus  lagrimas  mezclada." 

To  the  desire  for  repose,  so  natural  after  so  much 
weary  and  sad  turmoil,  is  perhaps  attributable,  in  some 


SPAIN.  241 

> 

degree,  the  pertinacity  witli  wliich  he  has  resisted  all 
attempts  to  bring  him  again  before  the  world,  by  the 
publication  of  his  works. 

When  Ferdinand  died,  the  road  of  advancement  lay 
open  to  Gallego,  but  he  declined  to  accept  various 
offers  of  the  most  honorable  character.  He  consented, 
nevertheless,  to  act  with  Quintuna,  Lacanal,  and  Lilian 
in  the  preparation  of  a  scheme  of  public  instruction, 
and  was,  besides,  for  some  time,  a  member  of  the  Di- 
rectory which  had  that  matter  in  charge.  Of  later 
years,  he  has  received  the  appointment  of  Senator,  and 
now  fills  the  distinguished  station,  likewise,  of  Perpetual 
Secretary  to  the  Spanish  Academy.  The  exquisite 
idiomatic  purity  of  his  compositions,  and  the  almost 
oracular  reverence  in  which  his  critical  opinion  is 
held,  render  the  appropriateness  of  his  selection  for 
the  last-mentioned  post  a  matter  of  universal  and  grat- 
ified recognition. 

The  published  poems  of  Gallego  are  so  few,  that 
only  the  highest  order  of  excellence  could  give  him 
the  reputation  he  enjoys.  They  are  chiefly  lyrical  and 
elegiac,  and  remarkable,  according  to  their  class,  for 
nobleness  and  elevation  of  style  and  thought,  or  for 
refined  and  plaintive  tenderness.  His  celebrated  verses 
in  commemoration  of  the  Dos  de  Mayo,  —  the  con- 
secrated 2d  of  May,  1808,  —  the  day  on  which  the 
patriotism  and  self-sacrifice  of  Daoiz  and  Velarde  and 
the  enthusiasm  and  despair  of  the  people  of  Madrid 
raised  the  bloody  and  at  last  triumphant  standard  of 
resistance  to  the  aggression  of  the  French,  —  have 
become  as  much  a  portion  of  the  literature  which 
dwells  in  the  popular  heart,  as  the  Marseillaise  in  France 

16 


242  SPAIN. 

or  the  "  Mariners  of  England."  The  poem  is  published 
throughout  the  kingdom,  as  often  as  the  years  bring 
round  the  proud  and  mournful  anniversary,  and  so 
admirable  are  both  its  spirit  and  its  execution,  that  it 
challenges,  at  every  repetition,  not  less  the  admiration 
of  the  scholar  and  the  man  of  taste  than  the  enthusi- 
asm of  those  who  have  no  canons  of  criticism  but 
their  feelings.  Indeed,  without  entering  into  any  crit- 
ical analysis,  I  know  no  better  idea  of  Gallego's  style 
and  merit,  in  the  class  of  works  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  than  that  which  is  given  by  likening  him  to 
Campbell.  The  same  loftiness  and  correctness,  —  the 
same  purity  of  taste  and  grace  of  expression,  —  the 
same  trumpet-like  capacity  to  warm  the  blood,  —  are 
conspicuous  in  both  of  them.  Unfortunately,  the  re- 
proach for  "  Soul-animating  strains,  — alas,  too  few  !  " 
is  equally  applicable.  Gallego  has,  it  is  beheved,  a 
large  number  of  poems,  which  are  fated  to  do  him 
only  posthumous  honor.  A  friend,  writing  of  his  vig- 
orous old  age,  says  that  "  the  request  to  publish  is  the 
only  thing  to  which  he  is  deaf."  He  is  content,  no 
doubt,  with  the  regard  and  admiration  of  his  contem- 
poraries already  won,  and  is  not  unwilling  to  conciliate 
posterity  by  a  legacy. 

It  would  be  hardly  fair  to  leave  unnoticed,  in  this 
little  sketch  of  two  of  the  veterans  of  Spanish  litera- 
ture, one  who,  though  somewhat  their  junior,  still  be- 
longs, both  in  age  and  eminence,  to  the  class  which 
they  represent.  I  refer  to  Don  Francisco  Martinez  de 
la  Rosa,  admitted,  I  believe,  on  all  hands,  to  be  the 
most  accomplished  belles-lettres  scholar  in  the  kingdom, 
and,  if  not  the  most  prominent  in  any  particular  depart- 


SPAIN.  'J  13 

ment  of  literature,  remarkable,  certainly,  for  liis  ability 
and  success  in  almost  all.  The  vicissitudes  of  his  po- 
litical life  and  opinions  have  divided  the  {)ublic  senti- 
ment in  regard  to  his  talents  as  a  statesman,  and  as  this 
division  has  been  accompanied  with  considerable  feeling, 
such  as  political  breaches  always  involve,  it  has  produced 
a  similar  diversity  of  sentiment  in  resj)ect  to  the  degree 
of  his  excellence  as  a  writer.  Neither  passion  nor  party 
spirit,  however,  has  been  able  to  extinguish,  even  in  his 
enemies,  that  respect  for  his  untiring  industry  and  great 
attainments,  which  is  conceded  equally  to  his  personal 
integrity. 

The  first  public  appearance  of  Martinez  de  la  Rosa 
was  in  the  Cortes  elected  in  1813,  under  the  new  con- 
stitution. He  was  sent  by  his  native  city  of  Granada, 
was  an  active  supporter  of  the  new  system,  and, 
though  only  twenty-five  years  of  age,  soon  ranked 
among  the  most  distinguished  orators  of  the  Congress. 
The  vindictiveness  of  Ferdinand  was  always  propor- 
tioned to  the  worth  and  ability  of  the  rebel.  Martinez 
was  accordingly  prosecuted  with  great  rigor,  but  al- 
though an  opportunity  was  offered  him  to  abjure  his 
opinions  and  be  free,  he  preferred  incurring  the  severe 
penalty  of  confinement,  for  ten  years,  in  the  state-prison 
of  the  Pawn  in  Africa.  With  the  liberal  reaction  of 
1820,  his  release  came,  and  he  went  back  to  Granada, 
to  be  welcomed  with  triumphal  arches  and  returned 
again  to  the  legislature  of  the  kingdom.  Time,  how- 
ever, had  begun  to  produce  that  change  in  his  opinions, 
which  in  the  first  fervor  of  his  youth  and  enthusiasm 
the  hope  of  royal  clemency  could  not  precipitate.  The 
constitution  of  1812  had  ceased  to  seem  to  him  tlie  per- 


244  SPAIN. 

fection  of  government,  for  which  he  had  once  taken  it. 
This  change  soon  disclosed  itself  in  his  parliamentary 
course,  and,  in  the  contests  between  the  executive  and 
the  legislature,  he  was  generally  to  be  found  on  the  side 
of  ministers.  On  a  memorable  occasion  in  the  legisla- 
tive annals  of  that  epoch,  he  announced  it  is  as  his  prin- 
ciple, that  "  defendiendo  al  gohierno  se  defiende  tarn- 
Hen  la  libertad,'''' —  the  defence  of  government  is  the 
defence  of  liberty  also  !  This,  which  has  been  the 
maxim  of  his  whole  subsequent  political  career,  gave 
at  the  time  great  provocation  to  the  liberal  party,  which 
he  was  regarded  as  deserting,  and  has  fixed  him  per- 
manently in  the  public  mind  as  the  adherent  and  advo- 
cate of  power.  He  was  elevated  to  the  Premiership 
in  1822,  but  was  compelled,  by  the  pressure  of  circum- 
stances and  of  legislative  opposition,  to  resign  a  post 
for  which  he  had  not  practical  qualifications  or  admin- 
istrative tact.  His  parliamentary  defences,  however, 
of  his  principles  and  measures  at  that  time,  are  among 
the  most  masterly  and  eloquent  recorded  efforts  of  the 
Spanish  tribune  ;  and  it  may  be  fairly  inferred  that 
his  reputation,  both  national  and  Continental,  was  of 
some  mark,  when  Chateaubriand  congratulated  himself 
on  being  Prime-Minister  of  France,  at  the  same  moment 
that  the  same  high  place  was  filled  by  Canning  in  Eng- 
land and  Martinez  de  la  Rosa  in  Spain. 

The  return  of  Ferdinand  to  absolute  power  drove 
Martinez  into  exile.  He  remained  for  the  most  part 
in  Paris,  where  he  formed  many  distinguished  politi- 
cal and  literary  associations,  the  former  of  which  con- 
tributed no  doubt  to  confirm  and  fix  his  maturer  and 
more  conservative  ideas  of  government.      During  his 


SPAIN.  215 

residence  abroad,  which  continued  until  1830,  he  pub- 
lished many  poetical,  dramatic,  and  critical  works,  some 
of  them  of  a  hir^h  order  of  merit,  and  none  without  the 
marks  of  scholarship  and  taste.  One  of  his  dramas, 
written  in  French,  was  in  the  course  of  representation 
with  creat  success  in  Paris,  when  the  revolution  of  the 
"  three  days  "  broke  out.  Ilis  Art  of  Poetry,  —  after  the 
fashion  of  Horace  and  Boileau,  —  though  in  itself  fuller 
of  art  than  poetry,  like  its  illustrious  prototypes,  was 
accompanied  by  a  large  body  of  copious  riiul  admira- 
ble annotations,  amounting  almost  to  a  critical  histoiy 
of  Spanish  poetical  literature,  and  displaying,  not  only 
a  profound  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  subject, 
but  all  a  poet's  appreciation  of  its  spirit. 

After  the  death  of  Ferdinand,  the  known  moderation 
of  Martinez  de  la  Rosa  in  his  political  sentiments  com- 
mended him  to  the  Queen  Regent.  The  Estatuto 
Real  (Royal  Statute),  the  first  compromise  of  despot- 
ism with  the  new  order  of  things,  was  promulgated  by 
an  administration  over  which  he  presided,  and  is  ad- 
mitted to  have  been  his  individual  work.  Allusion  has 
already  been  made  to  this  hybridous  constitution,  and  it 
is  not  worth  while  to  analyze  its  character  here.  It 
created  a  legislature  composed  of  two  branches,  —  the 
one  chosen  for  life  and  eminently  aristocratic  in  its 
nature  and  functions,  —  the  other  a  chamber  of  pro- 
curadores,  to  be  selected  from  time  to  time,  and  mainly 
by  the  ai/imfamiciitos  or  corporations  of  the  cities  and 
towns.  As  these  latter  functionaries  for  the  most  part 
were  the  creatures  of  the  crown,  or  could  at  any  time 
be  made  so,  it  was  felt  by  the  mass  of  the  constitu- 
tional party,  that  the  Cortes  of  the  Estatuto  were  little 


246  SPAIN. 

better  than  a  mockery  of  popular  representation. 
When  the  decree  for  the  organization  of  the  system 
was  read,  the  indignation  of  the  liberals  against  its 
author  knew  no  bounds.  Arguelles,  the  coryphaeus  of 
the  old  constitutional  regime,  cried  out  "  Apostasy  ! " 
lifting  his  hands  to  his  head  in  despair ;  and  even  in 
the  first  legislature  which  the  ministiy  convoked  under 
the  Statute,  there  were  elements  of  the  most  vigorous 
and  determined  resistance  to  it.  Martinez  had  all  the 
oratorical  ability  and  tact  which  baffle  or  break  down 
an  opposition  in  debate,  but  he  wanted  the  strategy  and 
energy  to  divert  or  overcome  the  pressure  from  with- 
out. He  was,  besides,  too  scrupulous  for  a  statesman 
in  his  country  and  generation.  He  expressed  opinions 
because  he  entertained  them,  and  adopted  lines  of  pol- 
icy for  no  better  reason  than  that  he  believed  them  to 
be  right.  The  chances  of  such  a  game  as  politics 
have  become,  in  all  countries,  were  therefore  necessa- 
rily against  him,  and  when  the  defects  of  his  system 
and  the  traits  of  his  personal  character  were  added  to 
what  a  contemporary  calls  his  "  excessive  rectitude," 
it  is  no  marvel  that  his  administration  was  troubled  and 
disastrous.  It  lasted,  however,  nearly  eighteen  months. 
The  equally  bad  success  of  those  who  followed  him, 
under  the  same  system,  might,  in  other  circumstances, 
have  relieved  him  from  the  charge  of  being  less  wise 
than  his  fellows  ;  but,  unfortunately,  he  was  the  author 
of  the  system  itself,  so  that,  in  one  shape  or  the  other, 
he  must  bear  the  responsibility  of  his  own  reverses  and, 
it  may  be,  of  theirs. 

Since  the  repeal  of  the  Esfatitto,  and  under  the  con- 
stitutions which  have  succeeded  it,  Martinez  de  la  Rosa 


SPAIN.  2i7 

has  been   a  member  of  the   Cortes  from  time  to  time, 
and  has  maintained  the  parliamentary  reputation  of  his 
more  vigorous  years,   under  all   the   disadvantages  of 
age  and  the  loss  of  political  prestige.     He  was  a  Dep- 
uty when  I  was  in  Madrid,  but  was  absent,  as  I  have 
stated,  as  Ambassador  at  Rome.     A  warm  and  active 
sympatliy  witli  the  Head  of  the  Church,  in  his  misfor- 
tunes, was  certainly  both  natural  and  proper  in  a  coun- 
try  so   thoroughly   and   devotedly  Catholic   as    Spain. 
The  virtues  of  Pius  the  Ninth  entitled    him,  besides,  to 
veneration  and    affectionate    regard,   independent  alto- 
gether of  the  homage  which  was  rendered  to  his  eccle- 
siastical supremacy.     He  was  undoubtedly  the  pioneer 
in   the   liberal   movement    which   has  shaken    Europe 
during  the  last  few  years,  and   there  can  be  but  little 
question,  that,  if  he  had  been  left  to  himself,  tp  conduct 
with  prudence  and  moderation  what  he  had  begun  with 
wisdom  and  good  faith,  there   would   not  now  be  seen 
the  spectacle   of  a   French   army  keeping  watch  and 
ward  in  the  Eternal  City.     The  presence  of  so  distin- 
guished a  personage  as   Martinez  de  la  Rosa,  invested 
with  the  highest   powers  and  dignities  known  to  diplo- 
matic custom,  and  following  the  exiled  Pontiff  through 
all  the  stages  of  his  pilgrimage,  was  therefore,  in  every 
sense,  appropriate  and  worthy  of  a  reverent  and  gen- 
erous people.     It  was  nevertheless  a  striking  instance 
of  that  perpetual  change  in  men  and  nations,  whereof 
all    history  is  but  the  record,    that  Spain    herself,    so 
frequently  the  victim   of  foreign    intervention,   should 
have  sent  an  army  to  intervene  in  the  domestic  affairs 
of  Rome  ;  and  that  an  individual  who  had  so  often  de- 
nounced the  hateful  principle,  and  had  himself  so  suf- 


248  SPAIN. 

fered  from  its  operation,  should  have  been  the  bearer 
of  his  country's  mandate,  to  do  unto  others  what  she 
would  not  that  others  should  do  unto  her.  "  For  my 
part,"  says  Montaigne,  "  I  am  with  much  more  difficul- 
ty  induced  to  believe  in  a  man's  consistency  than  in 
any  other  virtue  in  him  ;  while  there  is  nothing  I  so 
readily  believe  as  his  inconsistency  ;  and  whoso  will 
meditate  upon  the  matter,  closely  and  abstractedly, 
will  agree  with  me."  As  to  the  consistency  of  nations, 
not  even  that  universal  moralizer  thought  it  worth  while 
to  moralize. 

Besides  the  works  to  which  reference  has  already 
been  made,  Martinez  de  la  Rosa  has  subsequently  found 
leisure  for  the  production  of  many,  both  in  poetry  and 
prose,  and  some  of  them  at  least  are  likely  to  become 
a  permanent  portion  of  the  national  literature.  His 
most  elaborate  work  in  prose-fiction  —  the  historical 
novel  called  Isabel  de  Solis  —  has  not  been  received 
with  general  approbation,  the  better  opinion  being  that 
it  lacks  both  spirit  and  invention.  The  historical  biog- 
raphy of  Hernan  Perez  del  Pulgar  is,  however,  an  ad- 
mirable specimen  of  its  class,  and  would,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  many,  be  sufficient  to  make  a  reputation. 
Critical  opinion,*  nevertheless,  is  divided  even  upon  that 
point,  and  some  have  been  found  to  denounce  the  whole 
production  as  a  waste  of  time  and  labor  on  a  worthless 
subject,  —  an  attempt  to  write  a  chronicle  of  knightly 
days,  in  the  obsolete  language  that  belonged  to  them. 
Some  time  back,  one  of  the  prominent  journals  of  Ma- 
drid was  polite  and  amiable  enough  to  announce,  that, 
in  the  judgment  of  its  editors,  Martinez  de  la  Rosa  was 
little    better    than    a    tonto,  —  in    plain    language,    a 


SPAIN.  •  219 

fool  !  I  myself  was  surprised  to  hear  a  distinguished 
political  rival  say,  that  he  was  a  flat  poet  and  a  dull 
novelist,  with  nothing  striking  about  him,  but  large  ac- 
quirements and  larger  vanity  !  In  the  mean  time,  by 
general  consent,  at  home,  he  stands  among  the  first  of 
the  men  of  letters  of  his  day,  and  a  recent  sketch  of 
his  life  announces  his  elevation,  abroad,  to  the  high 
dignity  of  President  of  the  Institute  of  France.  The- 
balance  would  seem,  under  such  circumstances,  to  in- 
cline somewhat  in  his  favor,  but  the  amusing  diversity 
of  opinion  in  regard  to  his  literary  merits  may  well 
serve  to  illustrate  the  uncertainty  of  contemporary  fume, 
and  to  justify,  in  a  new  point  of  view,  the  wisdom  of  the 
philosopher  of  old,  who  said  that  the  fortune  of  the  hap- 
piest man  alive  was  like  the  luck  of  a  wrestler  who  was 
still  in  the  ring. 


250  •  SPAIN. 


XXII. 


Standing  Armies.  —  The  Spanish  Aemt,  its  Condition 
AND  Political  Influence. —  Immense  Number  of  Gen- 
erals. —  The  Scientific  Corps. —  Their  Organization 
AND  Merits.  —  The  Navy,  its  Improvement  and  Per- 
sonnel. — Its  Organization.  —  The  Cuban  Expeditions. 
—  Discriminating  Duties  under  our  Act  of  1834. — 
Development  of  Agriculture  and  Internal  Improve- 
ments IN  Spain,  in  Consequence. —  Santander.  —  Eail- 
BOADS.  —  The  Canal  of  Castile. —  Competition. 

The  organization  of  standing  armies  has  always  been 
regarded  as  a  step  forward  in  the  civilization  of  Eu- 
rope. Not  that  there  is  any  thing  particularly  human- 
izing in  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons,  of  themselves  or  as 
an  institution,  but  that,  as  men,  since  the  days  of  Cain, 
have  had  a  proneness  to  slay  their  brethren,  it  was  a 
wise  and  happy  thought  to  intrust  the  indulgence  of 
that  human  weakness  to  a  representative  class,  edu- 
cated, equipped,  and  paid  for  the  purpose,  and  to  leave 
the  rest  of  society  leisure  and  opportunity  for  more 
profitable  labor  and  gentler  entertainment.  No  one 
needs  be  told  how  military  establishments,  like  all  other 
establishments    clothed    with   public  power  for  public 


SPAIN.  251 

purposes,  have  habitimlly,  and  on  principle,  used  that 
power  for  their  own.  When  kings  grow  into  tyrants 
and  priests  into  stipendiaries,  —  when  republican  Rep- 
resentatives resolve  the  whole  task  of  legislation  into 
making  themselves  Presidents,  or  profiting  by  the  Pres- 
ident-making of  others, —  it  can  be  no  matter  of  surprise 
that  the  drum  and  trumpet  should  have  tauglit  no  better 
lesson  of  conscience  and  duty. 

In  Spain  the  weight  of  the  army  in  political  affairs 
has  been  a  crying  evil,  since  the  very  commencement 
of  the  liberal  system.  Its  pronunciaviientos  have  been 
always  influential,  and  often  omnipotent.  Its  leaders 
have  found  military  service  —  or  the  rank  which  they 
have  reached  without  it  —  a  passport  to  tlie  highest 
places  of  the  state.  The  legislature  is  full  of  them,  — 
the  ministerial  bench  is  rarely  free  from  them.  They 
are  the  boldest  intriguers,  the  most  open  and  avowed 
self-seekers.  Where  a  civilian  finds  a  prete.xt  neces- 
sary, a  brigadier-general  afl^ects  none.  If  the  govern- 
ment displeases  him,  he  is  indignant  and  confesses  it. 
He  represents  an  estate  of  the  realm,  and  he  has  no 
hesitation  in  proclaiming  that  he  will  make  himself 
feared,  if  the  rulers  will  not  love  him. 

Unfortunately,  the  evil  of  these  things,  though  very 
obvious,  is  of  very  difficult  cure.  A  nation  like  Spain, 
which  has  been  for  half  a  century  in  constant  war, 
must  of  necessity  have  incurred  heavy  obligations  to 
her  soldiery.  She  has  debts  of  gratitude  to  be  paid  in 
honors,  and  debts  of  a  more  substantial  sort  to  be  more 
substantially  satisfied.  As  a  portion  of  her  wars  have 
been  dynastic,  —  and  as  in  many  of  her  political  con- 
tentions the   bayonet  heis  done  the  duty  of  the  ballot- 


252  SPAIN. 

box,  —  the  victorious  dynasty  and  the  triumphant  party 
have  necessarily  involved  themselves  in  pledges  to  their 
troops,  which  must  for  a  while  not  only  forbid  any 
serious  reduction  of  the  military  scale,  so  far  as  the 
officers  are  concerned,  but  render  it  dangerous  to  resist 
the  demands  of  popular  chieftains. 

There  are  external  causes,  too,  at  the  present  moment, 
w^hich  make  it  almost  impossible  for  Spain  to  contract 
her  army  and  its  influence  within  the  proper  scope  of 
a  constitutional  system.  Of  these,  the  troubled  and 
uncertain  state  of  Europe  is  obviously  an  important 
one,  but  the  chief  obstacle  is  to  be  found  in  the  prox- 
imity of  France  and  the  extent  and  efficacy  of  French 
influence.  There  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  spiritual  or 
phreno-magnctic  rapport  proclaimed,  if  not  existing, 
between  Spain  and  her  extraordinary  neighbor.  It  has 
become  almost  a  concession,  that,  if  there  is  a  revolu- 
tion in  France,  there  must  be  one  in  Spain,  with  or 
without  cause.  If  there  is  a  reaction  at  Paris,  Madrid 
straightway  becomes  reactionary,  whether  there  be  or 
be  not  any  thing  to  react  from.  A  "  crisis  "  at  the  one 
place  is  almost  sure  to  produce  a  "  crisis  "  at  the  other, 
without  the  remotest  regard  to  the  existence  or  non- 
existence of  any  thing  critical.  The  patient  smacks 
his  lips,  simply  because  the  mesmerist  has  a  disposhion 
to  drink.  I  have  already  alluded  to  the  extent  of  this 
influence,  but  chiefly  in  reference  to  the  absurdities 
in  which  it  results.  Its  more  serious  consequences  are 
quite  as  numerous.  There  was  a  popular  outbreak  in 
Madrid  after  the  overthrow  of  Louis  Philippe,  merely 
because  Louis  Philippe  had  been  overthrown.  The 
government  strengthened  itself  for  its  own  preservation 


SPAIN.  253 

immctliatelv  after  that  outbreak,  as  was  natural  enonsh  : 
but  the  increase  of  its  powers  was  made  a  fi.xeri  po- 
litical principle,  as  soon  as  it  was  perceived  that  in 
France  it  had  become  fashionable  to  shoot  "  frater- 
nity." Since  the  accession  of  Louis  Napoleon  to  the 
Prince-Presidency  and  the  Empire,  there  is  no  know- 
ing what  might  happen,  were  there  any  body  in 
Madrid  who  was  nephew  to  an  uncle.  Indeed,  it 
would  not  be  strange,  if,  before  these  reflections  should 
see  the  light,  there  were  a  temporary  interruption 
of  the  constitutional  progress  of  Spain  and  the  hap- 
piness and  improvement  of  her  people,  by  some  Gal- 
lic harlequinade  or  other,  on  the  model  of  tlie  coup 
d'tlat. 

Excluding  the  troops  in  the  colonies,  the  Spanish 
army,  in  actual  service  in  the  Peninsula  and  the  adja- 
cent islands,  was  stated  by  Sr.  Moron,  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  to  consist  of  one  hundred  and  four  thou- 
sand men.  On  the  first  of  January,  1849,  and  throwin"' 
out  of  the  calculation  all  subsequent  additions,  which 
were  numerous,  there  were  neither  more  nor  less  than 
six  hundred  and  sixty-two  general  ofl^icers,  the  most 
of  them  comparatively  recent  promotions,  distributed 
through  that  army  !  By  the  Blue  Book  of  1850,  seven- 
ty-nine of  these  appear  to  have  been  lieutenant-generals. 
The  French  army,  of  about  five  times  the  number  of 
soldiers,  had  about  one  third  the  number  of  generals, 
and  the  proportion  was  still  smaller  in  Prussia.  In 
Austria,  with  more  than  four  times  as  many  men,  there 
were  scarcely  more  than  half  as  many  commanders. 
It  is  true  that  the  military  system  of  Spain  provides  for 
the  enrolment  and  reduction  into  service,  on  occasion, 


254  SPAIN. 

of  what  is  called  the  reserva,  or  reserved  division  of 
the  levies,  so  that  the  enormous  disproportion  which 
the  statistics  show  between  the  rank  and  file  and  their 
superior  officers,  ought  to  be  considered  with  a  trifling 
qualification,  on  that  account.  But  taking  all  things 
into  the  calculation,  —  not  foi'getting  the  troops  in  the 
colonies,  or  overlooking  the  necessity  of  supernumerary 
promotions,  during  the  progress  and  at  the  close  of  a 
civil  war  of  protracted  duration,  —  it  must  be  admitted 
that  there  is  little  to  redeem  the  military  establishment 
of  Spain  from  mere  absurdity  in  the  particular  re- 
ferred to.  Even  if  the  reserva  were  called  by  cir- 
cumstances into  activity,  there  is  not  much  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  past  to  induce  the  belief,  that  the  opportu- 
nity would  be  taken  to  make  the  officers  deserve  their 
honors  by  the  laborious  discharge  of  duty.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  the  occasion 
would  be  greedily  seized  to  enlarge  the  list  of  generales^ 
&c.  yet  more  extensively,  and  to  decorate  with  new 
ribbons  and  crosses,  if  such  could  be  found,  those  who 
had  already  reached  the  summit  of  actual  rank. 

In  his  guide-book,  published  about  the  middle  of 
1849,  and  containing  a  great  deal  of  useful  compen- 
dious information,  Mellado  states  that  the  empleados 
connected  with  the  War  Department  amounted  to  about 
eleven  thousand,  exclusive  of  soldiers.  It  will  not  thus 
be  deemed  at  all  remarkable  that  the  p7~esupuesto,  or 
budget  of  1850,  should  have  appropriated  nearly  six- 
teen millions  of  dollars  to  that  branch  of  the  public 
service.  When  it  is  considered  that  the  ordinary  pro- 
vision for  the  Naval  Department,  in  the  same  year, 
reached  about  three  millions  and  a  half,  and  that  a  very 


SPAIN.  255 

large  increase  in  the  niivy  has  since  been  ren'lered 
necessary,  by  the  piratical  jjlans  which  have  been 
agitated  in  the  United  States,  it  will  be  seen  that  Spain 
would  have  abundant  reasons  for  being  represented  in 
the  Peaco-Concresscs. 

With  whatever  truth  the  contrary  may  have  been 
said  twenty  years  ago,  there  can  be  no  question  that 
the  Spanish  army,  at  the  period  of  my  visit,  was  in  a 
high  state  of  discipline,  and  thoroughly  instructed  in 
the  best  improvements  of  modern  military  science. 
The  regiments  which  went  to  Rome  attracted  great 
admiration,  although  the  duly  assigned  to  them  afforded 
but  little  opportunity  for  the  display  of  their  more  sub- 
stantial (lualifications.  I  saw  some  of  them  after  their 
return,  and  heard  ample  testimony  borne  by  competent 
judges,  without  national  bias,  to  the  excellence  of  their 
equipment  and  drill.  The  garrison  of  Madrid  was 
composed  of  a  very  fine  body  of  men,  —  both  infan- 
try and  cavalry, —  lithe,  active,  and  strikingly  mar- 
tial in  their  bearing.  I  could  not  help  frequently  ob- 
serving, however,  among  the  company  officers  of  the 
line,  a  manifest  inferiority  to  the  rank  and  file  in  sol- 
dierlike appeafance.  It  was  mainly  attributable,  I 
thought,  to  the  comparative  youth  and  immaturity  of 
the  captains  and  lieutenants,  some  of  whom  seemed 
hardly  fit  to  encounter  the  rudeness  of  war's  alarms. 
It  is  still  but  fair  to  say,  that  the  worst  enemies  of 
the  army,  as  a  political  engine,  were  constrained  to  ac- 
knowledge the  personal  bravery  of  its  officers.  It  would 
indeed  be  hard  to  find  a  more  gallant  band  of  gentle- 
men, and  it  was  on  that  account  the  more  to  be 
regretted  that  so  many  of  tliem  should  be  tempted, 


256 


SPAIN. 


by  a  corrupting  political  system,  to  hang  upon  the  favor 
of  a  court. 

Captain  Widdrington  *  —  whose  professional  pursuits, 
as  well  as  his  long  residence  and  opportunities  of  ob- 
servation in  Spain,  entitle  his  judgment  to  great  respect 
—  speaks  very  favorably  of  the  education  and  attain- 
ments of  the  officers  attached  to  the  scientific  depart- 
ments. The  period  to  which  he  refers  was  about  that 
of  Ferdinand's  death,  and  the  improvement  which  has 
taken  place,  since  that  time,  in  the  preparatory  system, 
would  no  doubt  render  his  commendation  more  gener- 
ally applicable  now.  Although,  however,  it  is  true, 
as  he  observes,  that  the  artillery  and  engineer  corps 
have  always  been  remarkable  for  the  liberality  of  their 
political  sentiments,  and  have  almost  universally  en- 
countered the  greatest  sacrifices  in  the  maintenance  of 
such  opinions,  it  is  equally  true,  that  they  have  habit- 
ually refrained,  more  than  any  other  branches  of  the 
army,  from  intermeddling  with  the  ordinary  politics  of 
the  country.  No  doubt  the  direction  of  their  intellect- 
ual occupations  has  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  this,  and 
there  is  even  more,  perhaps,  in  the  fact,  that  they  have 
intellectual  occupation  of  some  sort,  without  any  par- 
ticular reference  to   its  nature.     The  mathematics  do 

*  In  a  review  of  the  "  Glimpses  of  Spain,"  the  London  Athe- 
nseum  —  referring  to  the  favorable  notice  I  had  taken  of  this  gen- 
tleman's admirable  books  on  Peninsular  affairs  —  was  liberal 
enough  to  suggest,  as  the  source  of  my  commendation,  that  no 
doubt  the  captain  wrote  "U.  S."  after  his  name!  I  should  be 
glad  if  it  were  true,  but  as  it  is  not,  I  must  be  content  with  hav- 
ing introduced  to  the  Athenceum  an  officer  of  whom  the  Royal 
Navy  ought  to  be  proud,  and  an  author  of  whose  name  it  was 
scarcely  reputable  in  a  literary  journal  to  be  ignorant. 


SPAIN.  257 

not  fit  a  man  peculiarly  for  playing  preteiidienle,  if  the 
inclination  occurs  to  him  ;  yet  it  is  not  likely  to  occur  to 
him,  if  he  has  the  mathematics,  or  any  thing  else,  in 
his  head,  by  which  he  earns  an  honorable  livelihood, 
with  mental  improvement  and  a  respectable  position. 
But  that  the  engineers  and  artiller}'  oll'icers  are  not  pol- 
iticians generally,  is  probably  owing  to  the  particular 
organization  of  those  corps,  more  than  to  any  other 
cause.  Promotion,  with  them,  follows  the  rigid  rule  of 
seniority  ;  whereas,  in  the  other  divisions,  he  who  has 
friends,  male  or  female,  in  the  palace  or  about  it,  rises 
soonest  and  most  infallibly.  The  visible  good  effect 
of  the  stricter  system  ought  certainly  to  suggest  to  the 
law-makers  the  propriety  of  extending  it  to  the  whole 
military  establishment.  Promotion,  given  as  the  extra- 
ordinary reward  of  extraordinary^  merit,  in  the  legiti- 
mate field  of  a  soldier's  duties,  is  of  course  an  incen- 
tive to  honorable  and  just  ambition,  and  elevates  the 
character  of  the  army,  while  it  prejudices  no  other 
interest  of  the  state.  But  where  advancement  is  the 
prize  of  ante-chamber  servility,  political  subserviency, 
or  small  intrigue,  it  can  have  no  beneficial  public  result, 
military  or  civil.  Numerous  instances  of  its  ridiculous 
and  prejudicial  consequences  were  very  familiar,  when 
I  was  in  Madrid,  to  all  who  knew  any  thing  of  public 
men  and  political  atfairs.  With  us,  the  habit  of  looking 
to  militaiy  chiefs  as  political  leaders,  merely  because 
they  have  fought  battles,  is  bad  enough,  no  doubt, —  and 
none  the  less  so,  because  now  and  then  the  education 
and  habits  of  the  camp  may  have  developed  eminent 
executive  qualities  in  particular  individuals.  That  must, 
in  spite  of  exceptions,  be  in  the  main  a  vicious  rule, 
17 


258  SPAIN. 

which  regards  any  thing  aside  from  fitness,  in  the  choice 
of  agents  for  any  purpose.  But  with  us,  the  soldier, 
wise  or  unwise,  takes  off  his  spurs  when  he  becomes  a 
political  leader.  His  military  career  may  secure  his 
elevation,  but  it  ends  when  that  begins.  General  Nar- 
vaez,  as  Prime-Minister,  might  wear  on  state  occasions, 
if  it  pleased  him,  the  uniform  of  a  Captain-General.  It 
would  be  odd,  with  us,  to  see  a  President  inaugurated 
in  epaulettes.  As  long  as  the  Spanish  system  lasts, 
irregularity  and  uncertainty  must  be  looked  for,  and 
constitutional  government  cannot  be  said  to  exist  in 
its  purity.  Our  system  will  probably  give  us  many 
bad  rulers ;  but  they  will  be  simply  inferior  Presidents, 
not  dangerous  generals. 

In  the  Spanish  navy,  promotion  is  likewise  depend- 
ent upon  fixed  rules,  and  the  result  is  identical  with 
that  which  has  already  been  adverted  to,  in  connection 
with  the  scientific  corps  of  the  land-service.  It  is  a^ 
.  very  rare  thing  for  naval  officers  to  be  heard  of  in 
association  with  political  intrigues,  or,  indeed,  any  thing 
political  ;  although  they  are  remarkable  as  a  class  for 
their  ability,  and  for  the  extent  of  their  general,  as  well 
as  professional  attainments.  This  fact  illustrates  the 
political  wisdom  of  their  organization,  even  more  de- 
cidedly than  the  same  result  following  the  same  cause 
in  those  divisions  of  the  army  to  which  it  is  applicable. 
Until  lately,  the  Spanish  navy  had  been  for  many  years 
in  a  state  of  sad  inactivity,  and  the  opportunity  for 
any  pi'actical  exercise  of  the  scientific  acquirements 
which  the  routine  of  the  service  prescribes,  was  ex- 
tremely insignificant.  Sailors  and  naval  command- 
ers cannot  be  made  or  occupied  without  ships,  and 


SPAIN.'  259 

the  disasters  of  the  preceding  and  the  present  century 
had  not  only  destroyed  the  proud  armaments  of  Spain 
and  exhausted  the  means  of  their  restoration,  but  in  a 
great  degree  broken  the  spirit  which  might  have  repaired 
her  fortunes  on  the  sea.  All  the  temptations  which 
leisure  creates  were  therefore  thrown  in  the  way  of  the 
officers  of  the  navy.  Ambitious,  and  at  the  same 
time  capable  and  well-educated,  they  had  every  induce- 
ment to  seek,  in  the  palace  or  the  halls  of  legislation, 
the  command  which  they  had  no  quarter-decks  to 
supply.  The  influence  wliich  countervailed  so  natural 
a  tendency  must  have  been  strong,  especially  when 
they  beheld  field-marshals  and  generals  changing 
into  senators  and  secretaries  all  around  them,  and 
when  there  was  scarcely  a  scale  of  power  into  which 
some  one  did  not  fling,  before  their  eyes,  a  sword  no 
heavier  than  theirs. 

I  have  said,  that  the  necessity  of  defending  her 
colonies  from  the  aggressive  expeditions  of  our  buc- 
caneers has  produced  a  decided  augmentation  of  the 
Spanish  navy  within  a  few  years  past.  In  addition 
to  the  regular  budget  for  1850,  a  million  and  a  half 
of  dollars  were  appropriated,  by  special  decree,  in 
March  of  the  same  year,  principally  to  the  construc- 
tion of  steam-ships.  Considerable  activity  had  previ- 
ously been  given  to  the  workshops  at  Ferrol  and  La 
Carraca,  and  the  then  Secretary,  the  Marquis  of  Mo- 
lins,  had  devoted  himself  with  considerable  energy 
and  enthusiasm  to  the  renovation  of  his  Department 
and  the  increase  of  its  efficiency.  The  same  policy 
has  been  pursued  with  constant  vigor  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time.     Liberal  and  wise  appropriations  have  been 


260  SPAIN. 

successively  granted  in  furtherance  of  it.  Large  pur- 
chases for  the  Spanish  arsenals  have  been  made  in  our 
own  timber-markets.  The  naval  schools  have  been  re- 
organized ;  the  modern  improvements  in  naval  archi- 
tecture have  been  studiously  consulted  ;  the  quiet  acqui- 
sitions in  nautical  science,  which  men  like  Navarrete 
had  for  years  been  hiving,  have  found  scope  for  their 
display  and  application.  The  national  pride  has  be- 
come enlisted,  and  the  opposition  but  rivals  t)ie  govern- 
ment in  encouraging  and  following  its  suggestions. 

Independently,  indeed,  of  the  principal  cause  of  all 
this,  which  has  been  mentioned,  the  increase  of  the 
navy  was  absolutely  required  by  the  improving  com- 
mercial activity  and  prospects  of  the  kingdom.  Not 
that  trade  has  been  doubled,  as  the  navy  has  been, — 
but  that  the  military  marine  was  so  utterly  unequal  to 
the  discharge  of  its  proper  duties,  as  to  need  a  com- 
plete reorganization,  in  order  to  meet  the  most  moder- 
ate advance  in  commerce.  Public  measures  or  events 
are  rarely  to  be  regarded  in  the  exclusive  light  of  cause 
or  effect.  They  are  generally  both.  An  increase  of 
naval  strength,  suggested  by  an  increase  of  commerce 
calling  for  protection,  must,  in  its  turn  and  by  the  very 
protection  which  it  affords,  give  an  impulse  to  commer- 
cial development.  A  commercial  marine,  upon  the 
other  hand,  developed  by  any  cause  whatever,  must 
not  only  create  and  enforce  a  necessity  for  the  in- 
crease of  naval  power,  but  must  furnish  the  means 
of  naval  growth,  in  a  body  of  experienced  and  hardy 
seamen  and  in  the  awakened  interest  and  sympathy 
of  the  nation.  It  may  thus  turn  out,  that  the  attempts 
of  a  portion  of  our  floating  and  licentious  population 


sr.AiN.  2fil 

to  enrich  themselves  at  the  expense  of  Spain  and  her 
colonies,  and  of  our  national  good  name,  may  be  one 
means  of  burnishing  once  more  the  rusted  trident  of 
the  Peninsula,  and  restoring  the  goodly  trade  which 
once  flourished  under  its  guardianship. 

There  is  a  portion  of  our  national  legislation,  in  ref- 
erence to  Spain,  which  shows  liow  important   results 
may  sometimes  follow  from  causes  apparently  wide  of 
them.     It  perhaps  illustrates  quite  as  well  the  remark 
just  now  made,  as  to  the  double   light  in  which  public 
measures  ought  commonly  to  be  regarded.     I  refer  to 
the  matter  of  "  discriminating  duties,"  levied  on  Span 
ish  vessels  from  the  West  Indies,  under  the  act  of  1834 
The  reader  may  perhaps  remember  an  able  and  states 
manlike  communication  on   the   subject,  made  by  Mr 
Secretary  Corwin,  to  Congress,  during  its  last  unprofit 
able  session.     The  act  was  passed  as  a  measure  of  re 
taliation,  and    would,  perhaps,   have   been   sufficiently 
just,  if  it  had  not  been  unwise.     It  very  soon  resulted 
in  excluding   Spanish  vessels   from  our  ports,  and  to 
the  extent  of  throwing  the  carrsing-tradc  between  the 
United  States  and  the   Islands   into  the   hands  of  our 
ship-owners,  it  answered  its  purpose  speedily  and  brave- 
ly.    But  our  legislators  seemed   to  forget  that  a  carry- 
ing-trade implies  commodities  to  be  carried,  as  well  as 
vessels  to  carry  them.     They  lost  sight  of  the  fact,  that 
the  articles  of  merchandise  vhich   we  contributed  to 
the   consumption    of  the  Islands   could    nearly  all    be 
purchased  elsewhere,  and  that  the  advantage  which  our 
ports  enjoyed,  from  their  proximity,  could  readily  be 
counterbalanced  by  custom-house  facilities  and  exemp- 
tions,  extended    to   importations   in   Spanish   bottoms. 


262  SPAIN, 

These  facilities  and  exemptions  were  in  fact  afforded. 
Other  nations,  wiser  than  we,  were  willing  to  produce 
and  sell,  and  let  the  Spaniards  themselves  carry.  The 
consequence  followed,  that  a  large  portion  of  the  de- 
mand from  the  Spanish  West  Indies  was  diverted  to  other 
markets,  so  that  our  trade  with  them  is  now  confined 
in  a  great  degree  to  our  own  products,  and  to  certain 
ponderous  articles  of  no  very  great  value,  which  our 
locality  enables  us  to  monopolize  in  spite  of  our  legis- 
lation. The  large  mass  of  foreign  commodities  which 
we  formerly  sold  them  are  now  purchased  by  them, 
directly,  from  the  same  sources  which  furnish  our  own 
supplies.  Even  in  the  articles  which  we  continue  to  fur- 
nish, the  sum  of  our  trade  bears  no  proportion  whatever 
to  the  immense  increase  of  the  West  India  demand. 
The  benefit,  therefore,  which  our  shipping  interests 
may  seem  to  have  reaped  in  some  particulars  from  the 
measure  in  question,  has  been  most  dearly  paid  for,  by 
sacrifices  which  are  now  too  obvious  to  escape  the  at- 
tention of  any  political  economists,  except  members  of 
Congress  on  the  eve  or  in  the  reaction  of  a  Presidential 
campaign. 

But  the  result,  as  it  affects  the  United  States,  is  not 
the  point  to  which  the  purposes  of  this  work  would 
make  me  direct  the  reader's  attention.  Driven  from 
our  ports,  by  the  onerous  duties  imposed  on  them  and 
the  vexations  with  which  the  imposition  was  often  ac- 
companied, the  Spanish  ship-owners  naturally  enough 
sought  their  home-markets,  whenever  the  articles  re- 
quired by  the  colonial  trade  could  be  found  there. 
The  new  demand  and  opportunity  of  shipment,  in  their 
turn,  quickened  production  and  supply.     Large  quan- 


SPAIN.  263 

titles  of  rice,  wliich  till  then  had  almost  rotted  on  the 
Mediterranean  coasts  of  Spain,  hegan  to  fill  the  ware- 
houses of  Cuba,  in  the  stead  of  our  rice  which  was 
excluded.  Bread-stuffs,  which  had  found  no  outlet  from 
the  boundless  and  inexhaustible  grain-growing  regions 
of  Castile,  began  to  puur  through  the  gates  of  Santan- 
der.  A  new  and  extraordinary  impulse  was  given  to 
the  trade  of  that  city.  Numerous  mills  were  erected 
in  its  vicinity  ;  new  quays  were  built ;  all  commercial 
facilities  were,  as  far  as  possible,  augmented.  Internal 
improvements  were  begun,  and  with  vigor,  for  their 
usefulness  and  profit  were  certain.  A  new  source  of 
wealth  was  in  fact  created,  —  a  new  development  given 
at  the  same  moment  to  agriculture  and  commerce,  and 
all  the  collateral  departments  of  both.  By  the  last  in- 
formation from  the  province,  it  appears  that,  under  the 
direction  of  an  English  company,  a  railway  from  San- 
tander  to  Alar  was  about  to  be  commenced  at  both 
ends  of  the  line,  and  that  a  continuation  of  the  same 
work  from  Alar  to  Burgos  and  Valladolid  was  already 
partially  under  contract.  The  Canal  de  Castilla,  origi- 
nally projected  by  the  wise  foresight  of  the  Marquis  of 
Ensenada,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  was  to 
have  had  one  of  its  termini  at  Santander,  and  there  has 
been  of  late  an  active  movement  towards  its  comple- 
tion. Indeed,  the  rivalry  which  at  present  exists  be- 
tween those  who  are  interested  in  the  canal,  and  the 
company  having  in  charge  the  Valladolid  branch  of  the 
railway  alluded  to,  furnishes  the  best  evidence  of  the 
importance  of  the  interests  involved  and  the  spirit  which 
they  have  awakened. 

The  consumption  of  Castilian  bread-stuffs  in  the  West 


264  SPAIN. 

Indies  has  now  become  so  general,  and  the  improve- 
ments which  have  been  made  in  their  preparation  and 
packing  have  rendered  them  so  desirable,  that  it  is 
much  to  be  doubted  whether  any  change  in  our  policy, 
thus  late,  can  open  the  way  to  profitable  rivalry.  The 
works  of  internal  improvement  to  which  I  have  alluded, 
and  the  other  enterprises  connected  with  them,  are  in  a 
great  degree  sustained  by  the  colossal  capital  of  the 
Cuban  merchants  and  bankers,  so  that  there  is  but  little 
probability  of  their  failure  from  lack  of  liberal  support. 
The  experiment  on  our  part  is  nevertheless  worth  try- 
ing, for  as  political  economy  is  the  science  of  selfish- 
ness, we  had  as  well  be  scientific,  like  the  rest.  If  the 
Spaniards  be  wise,  they  will  take  care  of  themselves, 
on  the  same  principle,  and  not  commit  the  folly  of 
starting  in  the  race  of  unrestricted  competition,  until 
they  have  trained  themselves  for  it,  like  their  com- 
petitors, by  a  course  of  rational  self-protection. 


SPAIN.  265 


XXIII. 


Ecclesiastical    System  and  Reforms.  —  Abolition  of 
THE  Inquisition.  —  Its  Character.  —  Llorente.  —  Cam- 

POMANES. —  FlORIDABLANCA  AND  JOVELLANOS.  —  TlIE  MO- 
NASTIC Orders.  —  Their  Sifpression.  — Confiscation 
OF  Church  Property. —  Reforms  of  the  Church  Sys- 
tem.—  Pay  of  the  Clergy.  —  Character  of  the  Secu- 
lar Clergy.  —  Clerical  Influence.  —  Toleration  in 
Spain. — Protestant  Travellers  and  Prejudices. — 
Exaggerations,  &c. 

No  entirely  correct  idea  can  be  given  of  the  state  of 
Spain,  under  her  present  institutions,  without  some  ref- 
erence to  her  ecclesiastical  system.  The  subject,  nev- 
ertheless, is  one  which  it  is  not  easy  to  touch  without 
giving  ofTence  ;  for  all  experience  shows  that  the  ut- 
most candor  and  the  best  intentions  afford  no  security, 
in  such  matters,  against  the  harsh  judgment  of  those 
whose  opinions  or  prejudices  are  invaded  by  an  effort 
to  be  faithful  to  the  truth. 

Spain  has  long  been  considered  and  treated,  by  ultra- 
Protestant  writers,  as  the  reduction  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  to  an  absurdity.  All  the  errors  and  follies 
and  abominations  of  the  many  despots  who  have  reigned 


266  SPAIN. 

over  her,  —  all  the  evils  that  have  been  entailed  on  her 
by  foreign  invasion  and  domestic  broil,  —  all  the  obsta- 
cles by  which  nature  and  circumstances  have  interrupted 
the  march  of  her  civilization,  —  have,  in  their  turn,  been 
set  down  to  the  influence  of  her  clergy,  and  the  per- 
nicious doctrines  they  have  taught.  When  public,  or 
literary,  or  religious  opinion  has  once  begun  to  run 
in  a  particular  channel,  observation  generally  takes 
the  same  direction.  The  foregone  conclusion  is  a  sort 
of  mould  for  the  facts  which  come  after  it.  Men  ex- 
plain the  phenomena  by  the  theory,  instead  of  correct- 
ing the  theory  by  the  phenomena.  The  religious  view 
to  which  I  have  adverted  has  thus  shaped  the  observa- 
tion of  nine  tenths  of  the  travellers  who  have  visited 
Spain  from  Protestant  countries.  Almost  every  one  of 
them  has  contributed  his  statement  of  illustrative  facts  to 
the  common  stock,  —  many  of  them  in  the  best  faith, 
—  some  of  them  because  such  things  make  up  a  lively 
and  picturesque  book,  —  others  because  they  have  dis- 
covered that  nothing  sells  so  well  as  a  little  piquant 
uncharitableness.  Of  this  last  the  trade  is  perfecdy 
aware,  and  can  calculate  you  the  probabilities  of  the 
market  accordingly. 

While  the  anti-Catholic  feeling  thus  induces  a  dispo- 
sition to  resent,  as  too  partial,  the  most  moderately 
favorable  view  of  Spanish  ecclesiastical  matters,  the 
Catholic  sentiment,  on  its  part,  is  somewhat  prone  to 
censure  the  concessions  which  impartiality  demands. 
This  is  natural  enough,  certainly.  By  systematic  de- 
nunciation of  any  cause,  you  may  readily  prevoke  its 
advocates  into  admiration,  or  at  all  events  into  the  stur- 
diest defence,  of  its  very  errors  and   vices.     Every 


SPAIN.  2G7 

one  rememl)ers  wliat  a  hero  persecution  made  out  of 
Wilkes.  But  altliougli  the  etibrt  to  write  down  Catho- 
licity, by  writing  down  Spain,  may  account  very  satis- 
factorily for  the  adverse  feeling  and  elVort  of  the  Cath- 
olic press,  it  furnishes  no  reason  for  blindness  or 
concealment,  on  the  part  of  those  who  desire  to  look  at 
the  field  of  controversy  without  favor  or  animosity. 
Even  with  the  profoundest  respect  for  the  faith  which 
is  professed  by  Spain  as  a  nation,  and  for  the  sincere 
convictions  of  those  who  maintain  it,  a  man  cannot 
read  Spanish  history,  or  know  the  Spanish  nation,  and 
ignore  the  fact,  that  the  institutions  with  which  the  na- 
tional religion  has,  until  lately,  been  surrounded,  have 
had  much  to  do  with  the  decay  of  public  prosperity. 
To  this  many  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  Peninsular 
divines  and  statesmen  have  borne  ample  testimony,  on 
solemn  public  occasions,  and  among  intelligent  men  in 
Spain  there  is,  at  the  present  day,  no  difference  of  opin- 
ion in  regard  to  it.  It  is  a  question  entirely  outside  that 
of  faith,  and  is  wisely  and  properly  so  regarded.  As 
to  the  right  and  prudence  of  the  particular  ecclesiastical 
reforms  which  have  taken  place  since  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  liberal  system,  there  has  been  and  continues 
to  be  much  dispute  ;  but,  that  reform  of  some  sort  was 
needed,  seems  to  be  the  concession  of  all  parties  whose 
opinions  are  worth  recording. 

On  the  other  hand,  again,  I  am  quite  as  well  satis- 
fied, that  the  extreme  Protestant  opinion,  so  popular  in 
England  and  this  country,  with  regard  to  Spain,  is  very 
much  exaggerated,  and  has  grossly  magnified  the  abuses 
of  the  Spanish  Church,  as  well  as  unjustly  disparaged 
its  clergy.     When  the  various  ecclesiastical  changes  of 


268 


SPAIN. 


the  century  were  under  consideration,  the  subject  was 
approached  with  all  the  care  which  its  importance  sug- 
gested.    Not  a  step  was  taken  without  full  and  often 
hostile  investigation,  and   the   members  of  the  liberal 
party,  clerical  as  well  as  lay,  brought  to  light,  without 
forbearance  or  reserve,  all  the  details   which  went  to 
show  the  necessity  of  the  reforms  in  contemplation.     In 
a  country  where  there  is  no  established  religion, —  where 
every  denomination  is  under  the  severe  and  constant 
scrutiny  of  those  who  entertain  antagonistical  opinions, 
—  it  may  not  always  be  easy  to  arrive,  by  confession,  at 
the  whole  truth,  when  its  exposure  would  be  unpleasant. 
Men  will  conceal  from  the  criticism  of  opponents  what 
they  have  no  disposition  to  uphold  themselves.     But  in 
Spain  there  was  no  anti-Catholic  organization  to  scruti- 
nize or  censure.     If  there  was  no  reason  for  exaggerat- 
ing, there  was  no  temptation  to  soften  down  the  truth. 
To  use  their  own  expressive  phrase, —  todo  se  quedo  en 
casa,  —  it  all  remained  within  doors,  —  a  family  secret. 
Besides  this,   whatever  may  be  their  habit  when  the 
national  pride  is  involved  in  controversy  with  strangers, 
the  Spaniards  in  their  domestic  discussions  are  not  gen- 
erally self-flatterers.  •  They  laugh  at  what  is  ridiculous 
among  themselves  with  as  keen  a  relish,  and  denounce 
what  is  worthy  of  denunciation  with  as  healthy  an  ear- 
nestness, as  if  they  had  no  part  or  lot  in  the  absurdi- 
ty or  the  sin.     Not  even  John  Bull  can  grumble  more 
sturdily  than  they,  though  their  pride  is  perhaps  less  vis- 
ible than  his,  through  the  holes  they  pick  in  their  man- 
tles.    I  allude  to  these  things  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing the  reliance  justly  to  be  placed  upon  the  estimates 
made  by  the  Spaniards  themselves  of  their  ecclesias- 


SPAIN.  2G9 

ticnl  abuses.  I  cannot  but  consider  tbem  far  hotter 
guides  tlian  the  opinions  formed  by  strangers,  upon 
observation  necessarily  limited,  and  not  always  had 
from  an  intelligent  or  im[)artial  point  of  view.  There 
is  a  pervcrscness,  sometimes,  in  sectarian  animosity, 
which  would  find  apples  of  discord  in  the  very  garden 
of  Eden. 

The  principal  changes  which  the  revolutions  of  this 
century  have  wrought  in  the  Spanish  ecclesiastical  es- 
tablishment are  three,  —  the  suppression  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, the  abolition  of  the  monastic  orders,  and  the 
assertion  of  a  more  direct  and  absolute  control  by  the 
government  over  the  revenues  and  administrative  polity 
of  the  Cliurch.  The  decree  levelled  by  Napoleon  at  the 
Inquisition,  soon  after  his  invasion,  was  of  comparatively 
small  practical  importance,  —  the  invasion  itself  having 
very  summarily  put  an  end,  for  the  time,  to  the  power 
and  oppressiveness  of  the  institution.  The  action, 
moreover,  of  a  foreign  and  intrusive  government,  was 
perhaps  more  likely  to  rally  the  resistance  than  to  con- 
ciliate the  respect  of  the  people,  or  to  concentrate  their 
moral  force  upon  any  reform,  no  matter  how  salutary 
in  itself.  The  movement  in  question  was  nevertheless 
a  useful  precursor  to  the  action  of  the  national  Cortes, 
which,  by  solemn  decree,  in  1813,  pronounced  the  ex- 
istence of  the  Inquisition  incompatible  with  the  con- 
stitution. I  have  already  alluded  to  the  discussions 
which  preceded  the  adoption  of  this  measure.  They 
were  reported,  at  the  time,  in  a  separate  volume,  un- 
connected with  the  ordinary  debates  of  the  Cortes,  and 
had  an  extensive  circulation  and,  I  have  no  doubt,  an 
e.\cellent  effect,     I  know  no  work,  the  perusal  of  which 


270 


SPAIN. 


would  do  more  towards  the  removal  of  religious  and 
political  prejudice  from  a  candid  mind.  I  have  never 
turned  to  it  without  an  increased  respect  for  the  intelli- 
gence and  liberality  of  the  Spanish  clergy,  as  well  as 
the  political  sagacity,  boldness,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
moderation,  of  the  much  abused  Cortes  of  that  day. 

With  Ferdinand  the  Seventh,  the  Holy  Office  re- 
sumed its  sway,  in  1814,  but  having  been  again  sup- 
pressed by  the  constitutionalists,  in  1820,  it  has  never 
since  been  revived.  It  had  in  fact  long  ceased  to  per- 
form the  bloodier  functions  which  made  it  most  odious. 
An  unhappy  woman,  who  in  1781  was  burned  at 
Seville  as  a  witch,  was  the  last  who  suffered  its  awful 
ministrations.  Her  execution  was  particularly  extraor- 
dinary, when  we  consider  the  character  of  the  reigning 
monarch,  and  the  great  liberality  which  distinguished 
the  measures  of  his  government.  It  excited  so  much 
abhorrence,  as  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  a  repetition. 

The  Inquisition  has  been  the  subject  of  such  merited 
execration  from  the  whole  civilized  world,  that  any 
attempt  to  qualify  the  general  estimate  of  its  enormi- 
ties is  not  likely  to  receive  even  fair  consideration.  It 
is  nevertheless  proper  to  observe,  that,  among  the  most 
enlightened  and  liberal  of  the  Spaniards,  the  work  of 
Llorente,  on  which  so  much  historical  judgment  is 
predicated,  holds  no  very  high  place  as  a  trustworthy 
narrative.  The  author,  his  compatriots  say,  had  all 
the  spirit  of  a  renegade,  and,  after  having  derived  from 
the  Inquisition,  in  its  day,  all  the  honors  and  profits  of 
its  secretariship,  was  not  unwilling  to  reap  the  credit 
of  candor  and  repentance,  by  exaggerating  the  sins  to 
which  he  had  given  countenance.    Many  of  the  most  im- 


SPAIN.  271 

porfant  records,  on  which  his  statements  profess  to  be 
foundeil,  were  destroyed  by  him,  under  the  direction  of 
Joseph  Bonaparte.  There  may  have  been  good  reason 
for  lliis,  but  tlie  resuh  of  it  is,  that  the  personal  veracity 
of  Llorente  is  the  only  existing  guaranty  for  tlie  truth 
of  much  that  has  passed  into  history.  Unfortunately, 
however,  for  the  tribunal,  there  is  quite  enough  known 
from  other  sources,  to  make  its  abolition  a  cause  of 
just  delight  to  all  who  sympathize  with  freedom,  or 
have  an  interest  in  the  progress  of  our  race.  That  it 
was  in  fact  a  political  engine,  quite  as  much  as  a  re- 
ligious institution,  —  at  all  events  of  later  years,  —  there 
is  now,  I  believe,  no  doubt  ;  and  much  of  the  odium 
,  which  it  has  thrown  on  the  Church  will,  one  of  these 
days,  1  am  sure,  be  transferred  to  the  State,  which  de- 
serves it.  But  no  change .  of  historical  opinion  upon 
that  point  can  weaken  men's  detestation  of  its  prin- 
ciples, or  palliate  the  iniquity  of  its  practices. 

The  measures  of  the  Cortes  of  1813,  in  regard  to 
the  Holy  Othce,  were  accompanied  by  corresponding 
legislation  with  respect  to  monastic  institutions.  In  this, 
as  in  the  other  case,  the  initiative  had  been  taken  by 
Napoleon  and  the  government  of  Joseph,  whose  mili- 
tary resources,  being  entirely  independent  of  the  popu- 
lar prejudices,  and  unaffected  by  the  influence  of  the 
monks  over  the  more  ignorant  portions  of  the  people, 
enabled  them  to  take  boldly,  and  at  once,  a  step  which 
would  have  required  infinite  caution  and  delay  on  the 
part  of  the  revolutionary  authorities.  Even  after  the 
movement  made  by  the  French,  the  Cortes  found  it 
necessary  to  deal  tenderly  with  the  matter,  and  the 
provisions  of  their  legislation  in  regard  to  it  looked 


272  SPAIN. 

only  to  the  most  prudent  and  gradual  reform.  Such  as 
they  were,  however,  they  were  not  saved  by  their  wis- 
dom from  the  destruction  with  which  the  whole  of  the 
liberal  system  was  overwhelmed,  on  the  return  of  Fer- 
dinand. In  1820,  the  reform,  thus  interrupted,  was 
renewed  and  prosecuted  in  a  bolder  spirit,  and,  by  way 
of  securing  its  permanency,  the  possessions  of  the  dif- 
ferent orders  were  sold  to  private  purchasers,  under  the 
direction  and  with  the  guaranty  of  the  government. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  enter  here  into  the  vexed  ques- 
tion as  to  the  right  of  the  civil  ruler,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  whole  of  the  governed,  to  appropriate  to  the  public 
treasury,  or  throw  into  the  operative  hands  of  individ- 
uals, the  property  lying  "  dead"  (as  the  law  has  it)  in 
the  possession  of  ecclesiastical  communities.  In  the 
absence  of  any  particular  constitutional  justification  of 
such  measures,  their  propriety  depends,  perhaps,  upon 
the  simple  and  fundamental  inquiry,  whether  nations, 
like  individuals,  possess  the  right  of  self-preservation. 
So  far  as  the  laws  of  Spain  are  concerned,  the  whole 
subject  underwent  the  most  learned  and  scrupulous  ex- 
amination during  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Third,  The 
works  of  Campomanes  and  Moiiino  (afterwards  Count 
of  Floridablanca)  demonstrate,  in  the  fullest  and  most 
satisfactory  manner,  that  the  accumulation  of  property 
in  mortmain  was  in  palpable  violation  of  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  the  fundamental  institutions  of  the  realm. 
The  celebrated  work  of  Jovellanos,  on  the  Ley  Agra- 
ria,  pubHshed  in  the  succeeding  reign,  was  equally  de- 
monstrative of  its  ruinous  influence  upon  agriculture, 
and  the  general  national  prosperity.  Whether  these 
eminent  jurists  and  statesmen  were  at  fault  or  not  in 


SPAIN.  273 

their  conclusions,  the  legislation  of  subsequent  times 
has,  at  all  events,  been  predicated  on  the  assumption  of 
their  correctness. 

Upon  the  second  overthrow  of  the  constitutional  par- 
ty, in  18'J3,  the  monastic  institutions  were  reestablished, 
and  the  whole  of  thg  property  which  had  belonged  to 
them  was  wrested  from  the  purchasers  and  their  alien- 
ees, to  be  devoted  to  its  original  purposes,  without  any 
return  of  purchase-money  or  allowance  for  improve- 
ments. Indeed,  the  parties  in  possession  were  com- 
pelled, where  the  monks  required  it,  to  restore  the 
whole,  at  their  own  expense,  to  the  condition  in  which 
they  had  purchased  it.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
rights  of  the  ecclesiastics,  the  iniquity /»f  this  proceed- 
ing, so  far  as  the  government  was  concerned,  is  beyond 
apology.  Many  families  were  ruined  by  it,  and  large 
numbers  of  innocent  and  industrious  persons  exposed 
to  great  pecuniary  loss.  The  deep  and  general  resent- 
ment which  it  provoked  was,  however,  directed  chieflv 
against  the  monks,  and  was  aggravated  in  time,  and  by 
additional  causes  of  dissatisfaction,  into  decided  and 
uncompromising  hostility.  The  final  overthrow  of  the 
monastic  system,  and  the  stringency  of  the  measures 
which  were  adopted  with  a  view  to  it,  may  be  in  a 
great  degree  attributed  to  the  existence  of  this  feeling 
and  its  primary  cause.  The  first  of  the  Moderado 
cabinets  were  disposed  to  temporize  with  the  subject, 
and  attempted  to  legitimate  their  limited  interference 
with  it,  by  some  of  the  articles  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 
But  the  monks,  in  the  mean  time,  took  such  active  and 
open  part  in  the  Carlist  rebellion,  as  to  leave  the  gov- 
ernment no  pretext  for  casuistry,  and  no  safety  in  for- 
18 


274  SPAIN. 

bearance.  Self-preservation  and  the  popular  pressure 
from  without  soon  put  an  end  to  delay  and  scruples. 
The  final  blow  was  stricken,  by  royal  decree,  in  the 
spring  of  1836,  under  the  administration  of  Mendizabal, 
and  the  Cortes,  in  the  summer  of  1837,  gave  to  the 
action  of  the  Executive  the  deliberate  and  authoritative 
sanction  of  the  national  will.  All  convents,  colleges, 
and  communities  of  monks  were  at  once  suppressed, 
(with  a  few  temporary  and  special  exceptions,)  and  the 
nunneries  were  reduced  to  the  smallest  number  capable 
of  containing  those  of  their  inmates  who  were  unwill- 
ing to  reenter  the  world.  The  prohibition  of  religious 
vows,  from  that  time  forth,  insured  the  gradual  dim- 
inution and  ultimate  extinction  of  the  whole  monastic 
body. 

The  monks  thus  ejected  from  their  cloisters  (eX' 
claustrados,  as  they  are  called)  passed,  many  of  them 
usefully,  into  the  service  of  religion  as  parish  priests. 
Others  remained,  here  and  there,  in  charge  of  the 
churches  belonging  to  their  orders,  which  were  pre- 
served as  works  of  art,  or  were  regarded  as  essential 
to  the  religious  necessities  of  their  neighborhoods.  The 
great  majority  dedicated  themselves  to  such  secular 
employment  as  they  could  procure,  and  many  of  them 
grew  into  useful  and  excellent  citizens ;  while  others, 
incapacitated  by  the  habits  of  long  years,  soon  surren- 
dered industrious  pursuits  for  idleness  and  mendicancy. 
The  decree  of  suppression  provided  for  the  support  of 
the  exclaustrados,  out  of  the  fund  to  be  raised  by  the 
sale  of  conventual  property.  It  was,  however,  but  a 
miserable  pittance  at  best,  —  not  intended,  for  obvious 
reasons,  to  be  altogether  relied  on,  —  and  it  has  always 


SPAIN.  275 

been  paid  with  sad  irregularity.  In  many  cases,  there- 
fore, where  private  charity  has  not  interfered,  the  lot 
of  the  aged  and  infirm  monks  and  nuns  has  been  cru- 
elly destitute.  A  few  instances  within  my  own  obser- 
vation satisfied  rne,  that,  like  every  sudtleii  and  sweep- 
ing change  of  public  policy,  — no  matter  how  just  and 
wise  in  itself, — the  reformation  of  conventual  abuses 
has  been  purchased  at  the  expense  of  grievous  individ- 
ual wrong  and  suffering.  But  general  rules,  unhappily, 
can  hardly  be  framed  so  as  to  avoid  particular  results 
which  make  their  application  painful,  and  the  philan- 
thropy of  statesmen  is  not  much  to  be  complained  of, 
if  the  aggregate  of  good  is,  on  the  whole,  upon  its  side. 
The  traveller,  who  looks  at  Spain  from  the  pictu- 
resque point  of  view,  has  certainly  small  cause  to  thank 
the  political  necessity  which  has  removed  the  cord  and^ 
cowl  from  the  dim  cloisters  where  their  shadows  fell. 
Decay  has  commenced  its  work,  already,  upon  many 
of  the  magnificent  temples  which  the  care  of  the  fri- 
ars kept  perfect.  Stately  buildings,  once  wealthily  en- 
dowed, where  architecture  and  the  kindred  arts  accumu- 
lated all  their  pomp,  seem  naked  now,  and  are  lonely 
and  desolate,  without  them.  Gardens  and  groves  which 
they  tended  —  plantations  and  vineyards  which  mifht 
have  been  the  heritage  of  princes  —  have  been  par- 
celled out  among  small  proprietors,  until  subdivision 
seems  to  have  made  them  insignificant.  Green  patches 
of  forest,  rare  in  Spain,  which  their  intelligence  and 
taste  had  induced  them  to  preserve  untouched,  throui'h 
all  their  tribulations,  have  disappeared,  in  some  places, 
before  the  axe  of  the  lay  proprietor.  Ruined  walls, 
dismantled  towers  and  belfries,  meet  the  eye  of  the  way- 


276  SPAIN. 

farer  sadly,  as  he  crosses  the  deserted  plains  or  the 
wild  mountains,  —  making  the  solitude  and  gloom  of 
the  landscape  yet  more  impressive  and  severe.  On 
the  streets,  and  in  the  public  walks  and  places,  the 
bright  colors  of  the  national  costume  are  relieved  no 
longer,  for  the  artist"'s  joy,  by  the  dark  groups  in  sombre 
drapery,  that  used  to  be  the  theme  of  every  pencil.  A 
striking  characteristic  of  Spanish  scenery  and  life  has 
passed  altogether  away. 

But  men  live,  now-a-days,  for  something  more  than 
pictures.  The  monks  had  lost  public  respect,  and  with 
it  their  usefulness.  The  distribution  which  has  de- 
stroyed the  beauty  of  the  convent  lands,  has  no  doubt 
doubled  the  productiveness  of  their  soil.  The  alms 
which  supported  the  monastery,  and  kept  its  architec- 
ture and  its  ornaments  from  decay,  have  remained  in 
the  peasant's  hands,  for  the  comfort  of  his  family  or 
the  improvement  of  the  little  spot  he  cultivates.  The 
spiritual  instruction  of  the  young  and  ignorant  has 
become  the  care  of  the  secular  clergy,  whose  education 
and  higher  gifts,  intellectual  and  moral,  make  the  change 
a  national  blessing.  The  impoverished  industry  and 
neglected  agriculture  of  the  land  have  received  an 
accession  of  vigorous  labor,  no  longer  tempted  into 
sloth  by  the  seductions  of  a  privileged  and  sensual  life. 
In  the  cities  and  larger  towns,  the  convent  buildings 
have  been  displaced,  to  make  room  for  private  dwell- 
ings of  more  or  less  convenience  and  elegance,  or  have 
been  appropriated  as  public  offices  or  repositories  of 
works  of  art.  The  extensive  grounds,  which  were 
monopolized  by  some  of  the  orders,  in  the  crowded 
midst  of  populous  quarters,  have  been  converted  into 


SPAIM.  277 

walks  or  squares,  dedicated  to  the  public  hoalfli  and 
recreation.  In  a  word,  what  was  intended,  in  tlif  Ih;- 
ginning,  as  the  object  of  monastic  endowments,  lias 
been  to  some  extent  realized.  \\  li.it  was  nirant  for 
the  good  of  all,  though  intrusted  to  a  few,  has  bc(;n 
taken  from  the  few  who  used  it  as  their  own,  and  dis- 
tributed, rudely  it  may  be,  but  yet  circctually,  among 
the  many  who  were  entitled  to  and  n»;eded  it. 

The  number  of  the  inmates  of  the  monastic  institu- 
tions in  Spain  has  been  ridiculously  exaggerated.  \\  id- 
drington  speaks  of  an  extraordinary  statement  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review,  setting  them  down  at  four  hundred 
thousand,  some  twenty  years  ago  ;  and  the  reader  will 
probably  remember  estimates,  almost  as  remarkable,  in 
the  books  of  statistics  to  which  he  may  have  referred. 
According  to  the  Count  of  Toreno,  there  were,  in  1808, 
at  the  time  of  the  French  invasion,  92,727  religious  in 
Spain,  including  monks,  nuns,  hiy  brethren  and  sis- 
ters, servants,  and  dependents.  When  the  measures  of 
suppression  were  adopted,  there  were,  by  the  cli- 
mate of  McUado,  about  twenty-six  hundred  convents  in 
all,  being  at  least  five  hundred  less  than  at  the  epoch 
of  which  Toreno  speaks.  Their  inmates,  according  to 
the  best  accessible  information,  did  not  much  exceed 
forty  thousand  in  number,  in  1836,  and  of  these  about 
thirteen  thousand  were  nuns.  In  his  notes  to  the 
translation  of  the  statistical  work  of  IMoreau  de  Jon- 
nes,  published  in  1835,  Don  Pascual  IMadoz  carries 
the  number  of  religious  beyond  ninety  thousand  ;  but 
his  estimate  is  founded  on  the  census  of  17!)7,  which 
it  would  seem  strange  that  he  should  have  adopted, 
were  it  not  that  the  extensive  data  which  it  furnished 


278 


SPAIN. 


gave  additional  strength  to  the  Progresista  side  of  the 
then  excited  Church  controversy.  So  true  it  is,  that 
figures,  which  according  to  the  common  proverb  "  can- 
not lie,"  are  invariably  found,  in  political  dispute,  to 
arrive  as  nearly  at  the  reputed  impossibility,  as  the 
purposes  of  the  disputants  may  require. 

That,  according  to  the  most  moderate  and  probable 
view  of  the  facts,  there  should,  in  a  population  of  not 
more  than  twelve  millions,  have  been  forty  thousand 
persons  withdrawn  from  those  practical  and  substantial 
duties,  which,  in  the  order  of  Providence,  are  a  part  of 
the  destiny  and  obligation  of  every  human  creature, 
and  from  which  no  state  can  safely  or  consistently  dis- 
charge its  citizens,  —  is  quite  justification  enough  for 
the  legislative  action,  which  put  an  end  to  such  a  drain 
on  the  public  industry,  and  such  a  check  on  production, 
population,  and  wealth.  The  "  descansada  vida "  of 
Fray  Luis  de  Leon  —  a  life  of  mystic  reverie  and  con- 
templation —  may  not  be  inconsistent  with  the  social 
uses  of  humanity,  in  the  few  whose  genius  or  tem- 
perament, like  his,  suggests  it.  In  them  it  may  be  but 
the  nurse  of  lofty  and  poetic  thought,  the  prompter  of 
religious  musings,  which  may  delight  and  teach  man- 
kind. But  for  the  most  of  men,  the  "  mundanal  rui- 
do,^''  —  the  worldly  noise,  —  the  echo  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings,  the  labors,  hopes,  and  sufferings  of  other 
men,  —  is  needful  to  prevent  their  hearkening  only  to 
the  eternal  whispering  of  self  Contemplation,  pursued 
as  a  calling  in  life,  is  apt  to  degenerate  into  a  trade. 
Its  sphere  in  a  Carthusian's  cell  cannot  be  a  very  wide 
one,  nor  its  objects  many  or  healthful.  It  would  be  but 
poor  astronomy  to  have  one's  observatory  in  the  bottom 


SPAIN.  279 

of  a  well, —  poor  philosophy  to  suppose  truth  was  only 
to  be  found  there !  When  I  visited  the  Escoriai,  a 
tottering  sacristan,  who  showed  us  the  Pantheon  of  the 
kings,  said,  in  a  melancholy,  humble  tone,  —  which 
vividly  recalled  Sterne's  old  Franciscan,  —  that  he  had 
been  thrice  exclaustradn,  and  yet  trusted  in  the  mercy 
of  God  !  A  friend  informed  me,  almost  in  the  same 
connection,  that  he  had  seen  the  Padre  ,  a  distin- 
guished and  irreproachable  brother  of  the  same  monas- 
tery, dance  the  Polka  after  his  seculafization,  with  all 
imaginable  glee.  Here  were  the  two  extremes,  —  the 
man  of  the  tombs  and  the  man  of  the  world.  I  could 
not  help  thinking  that  the  mercy  of  God  was  as  likely 
to  be  with  him  who  trod  the  earth  cheerfully  and  man- 
fully, as  with  him  whose  thoughts,  like  his  occupation, 
were  in  the  mansions  of  decay,  beneath  it. 

In  the  series  of  legislative  measures  which  the  ec- 
clesiastical reformation  of  Spain  required,  the  estates 
which  had  been  accumulated  by  the  Church  proper 
were  of  too  great  importance  to  be  overlooked.  ^In- 
deed,  the  movements  which  began  during  the  reign  of 
Charles  the  Third  were  rather  in  regard  to  the  prop- 
erty held  by  the  secular  clergy,  than  that  belonging 
to  the  monastic  establishments.  The  views  of  Campo- 
manes  and  Monino  took  this  direction  chiefly,  and  al- 
though Jovellanos  afterwards  carried  out  his  opinions 
to  the  extent  of  their  legitimate  application,  it  will  be 
observed  that  he  touched  the  question  of  convent  prop- 
erty with  a  somewhat  lighter  hand,  than  that  which  he 
laid  on  the  domains  of  the  Church.  The  truth  is,  that 
the  monastic  orders,  being  in  fact  the  soldiers  of  the 
Holy  Office,  were  most  especially  under  its  protection, 


280 


SPAIN. 


and  it  was  not  prudent,  if  safe,  even  under  the  enlight- 
ened government  of  Charles,  to  provoke  so  formidable 
an  enemy.  Moderate  and  guarded  as  they  were,  it 
required  all  the  favor  of  the  throne  to  protect  Campo- 
manes  and  Floridablanca  from  the  storm  which  the  hon- 
esty and  conclusiveness  of  their  expositions  had  raised. 
Indeed,  the  latter  of  these  distinguished  men  —  after 
the  death  of  the  monarch,  to  the  glory  of  whose  reign 
and  the  good  of  whose  people  he  had  contributed  so 
much — was  made  to  taste  the  bitterness  of  persecu- 
tion, imprisonment,  and  want.  That  the  same  fate  at- 
tended Jovellanos  might  be  inferred  from  the  custom- 
ary history  of  his  nation's  benefactors,  even  if  the 
details  of  his  sufferings  and  wrongs  were  not  a  well- 
known  portion  of  the  annals  of  those  days. 

A  royal  decree,  promulgated  in  1798,  upon  the  sug- 
gestion of  Jovellanos  in  the  Report  of  which  I  have 
spoken,  had  laid  the  foundation  of  a  permanent  change 
in  the  administration  of  Church  property.  It  directed 
the  sale  of  the  real  estate  belonging  to  hospitals,  broth- 
erhoods, &c.,  and  the  investment  of  the  proceeds  in 
the  public  funds  for  the  benefit  of  those  establishments. 
It  likewise  invited  the  higher  clergy,  as  a  matter  of  pol- 
icy and  patriotism,  to  dispose  of  the  property  attached 
to  the  various  Church  foundations  under  their  control, 
and  to  pursue  the  same  course  of  investment  with  the 
moneys  to  be  realized  therefrom.  This  decree  was 
approved  by  the  Court  of  Rome,  and  carried  into  effect 
for  a  while  with  considerable  energy  ;  but  the  consum- 
mation of  its  benefits  was  arrested  by  the  invasion  of 
1808,  and  the  policy  which  had  dictated  it  was  not 
revived,  until  thejmeeting  of  the  constitutional  Cortes, 


SPAIN.  281 

in  1820.  By  a  decree  of  the  last-named  body,  reen- 
acted  in  1836,  the  future  acquisition  of  estates  in  mort- 
main, under  any  pretext,  was  finally  forbidden.  In 
connection  with  this,  and  with  the  anti-monastic  lerris- 
lation  already  referred  to,  the  j)roperty  of  liie  churches, 
chapters,  brotherhoods,  and  other  bodies  of  the  secular 
clergy,  passed,  in  due  course,  into  the  possession  of  the 
state.  As  a  part  of  the  same  system,  tithes,  first-fruits, 
and  all  ecclesiastical  dues  whatever  were  absolutely 
abolished,  so  that  the  clergy  were  cut  off  from  any 
immediate  reliance  on  the  people,  and  from  all  right 
to  enforce  contributions.  The  state  tlius  became  the 
fountain  of  Church  patronage,  assuming  the  support  of 
the  altar,  and  taxes  for  ciillo  y  chro  (worship  and 
clergy)  were  added  from  that  time  forth  to  the  list  of 
imposts  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  government.  In 
the  budget  of  1850,  nearly  seven  millions  of  dollars 
were  appropriated  to  this  head,  besides  about  a  million 
dedicated  to  the  support  of  the  nuns  who  still  remained 
in  their  convents.  When  I  was  in  Spain,  there'  was 
a  mixed  commission,  appointed  by  the  Pope  and  the 
government,  whose  labors  have  resulted  in  the  concor- 
dat of  March,  1851.  By  that  instrument,  all  titles  ac- 
quired, under  previous  sales  of  Church  property,  are  con- 
firmed, but  the  portions  remaining  unsold  are  restored, 
with  a  provision,  however,  for  their  future  alienation 
and  the  investment  of  the  proceeds  in  stock.  The  right 
of  the  Church  proper  to  acquire  real  estate  is,  in  some 
sort,  revived,  and  certain  orders  of  nuns  are  reestab- 
lished. The  suppression  of  the  monks  is  finally  acqui- 
esced in,  —  although  the  return  of  the  Jesuits  has  since 
been  allowed.    The  settlement  has  not  been  satisfactory 


282  SPAIN. 

to  either  of  the  political  parties,  but  it  has  compromised, 
at  least  for  the  present,  many  long-vexed  questions. 

When  the  state  assumed  to  provide  for  the  support 
of  the  clergy,  their  incomes  were  of  course  reduced. 
There  was  great  room  for  such  reduction,  —  the  re- 
ceipts of  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  prelates 
of  high  rank,  being  then  generally  large,  and  in  some 
cases  enormous,  with  reference  to  the  condition  of  the 
country.  The  present  scale  is  sufficiently  high  for 
their  proper  and  decorous  support,  although  the  irreg- 
ularity with  which  the  salaries  were  paid,  particularly 
to  the  lower  clergy,  was  any  thing  but  creditable,  and 
tended  to  throw  upon  the  ecclesiastical  policy  of  the  lib- 
eral party  a  certain  amount  of  that  unpopularity  which 
is  the  proper  and  inevitable  result  of  injustice.  If  the 
interests  of  the  public  demand  that  the  state  should 
control  the  finances  of  the  Church,  the  simplest  good 
faith  of  course  requires  that  they  should  be  honestly 
administered.  Above  all,  there  should  be  fair  dealing 
with  a  dependent  class,  who  have  now  no  remedy 
but  patience  and  resignation.  There  is  no  point  of 
view  in  which  it  can  be  either  proper  or  expedient  that 
the  ministers  of  the  altar  should  be  hindered,  by  want, 
in  the  performance  of  their  sacred  functions,  or  be 
exposed,  by  the  faithlessness  of  the  civil  power,  to  per- 
sonal humiliation  and  distress. 

Although  the  number  of  the  secular  clergy,  like  that 
of  the  monks,  has  been  immensely  exaggerated,  out 
of  Spain,  there  is  yet  no  doubt  that  it  has  generally 
been,  and  still  is,  larger  than  the  religious  necessities 
of  the  people  can  justify.  This  is,  in  some  degree, 
the  result  of  a   church  establishment,  consecrated  by 


srAi.v.  283 

the  universal  opinion  of  the  nation,  and  upheld  by  the 
power  and  prestiine  of  the  government.  It  owes  some- 
thing, likewise,  to  the  devotional  tendency  of  the  Span- 
iards, and  tlioir  disposition  to  surround  the  depository 
of  their  faith  with  all  the  dignity  and  influence  of  a 
numerous  clergy.  As  a  democratic  institution,  too, 
—  in  the  midst  of  a  monarchy,  —  with  its  honors  and 
wealth  and  power  accessible  to  all,  the  Church  has 
necessarily  attracted  that  extensive  class,  whose  aspi- 
rations have  been  checked  in  other  quarters,  by  the 
lack  of  family  and  fortune.  But,  quite  as  much  as 
to  these  causes,  the  overgrown  service  of  the  Church 
may  be  traced  to  those  general  circumstances,  which 
have  depressed  the  industry  and  crippled  the  agricul- 
ture and  commerce  of  the  nation,  —  thereby  diminish- 
ing the  sources  of  respectable  occupation,  and  throwing 
so  many  of  the  educated  youth  into  the  few  remain- 
ing channels  of  advancement.  In  this  connection  it 
may  properly  be  observed,  that  the  suppression  of 
the  monastic  orders,  so  beneficial  in  so  many  regards, 
has  not  been  altogether  without  consequences  which 
are  temporarily  hurtful.  It  put  an  end  to  a  respect- 
able mode  of  subsistence  for  many  thousands,  at  a 
time  when  the  tardy  development  of  the  national  re- 
sources created  no  sutticient  demand  for  their  labor  in 
any  other  department.  I  speak  not  merely  of  those 
who  had  already  assumed  the  monastic  habit,  but  of 
the  large  number  of  young  men  whose  families  looked 
forward  to  the  convents  as  a  creditable  mode  of  pro- 
viding for  their  future  maintenance.  In  time,  and  as  the 
resources  of  the  nation  shall  be  developed,  legitimate 
metiiods  of  support  —  involving  labor  and  not  idleness, 


284 


SPAIN. 


contributing  to  the  national  wealth,  instead  of  consum- 
ing it  —  will  fill  the  void  thus  created.  But  for  the  pres- 
ent the  reform  has  greatly  swollen  the  innumerable  car- 
avan of  pretendientes,  who  beset  the  capital  and  every 
source  of  public  patronage.  It  has  increased  the  viru- 
lence of  party  to  an  unwonted  extent,  by  rendering  the 
bread  of  so  many  dependent  upon  their  access  to  fa- 
vor. It  has  diminished  the  chances  of  a  regular  and 
uninterrupted  system  of  government,  by  making  it  the 
interest  of  so  many  to  pull  down  whatever  stands  be- 
tween them  and  the  treasury,  and  to  exercise  power, 
while  they  hold  it,  for  purposes  exclusively  personal  to 
themselves  and  their  friends.  Many  a  young  gentle- 
man in  yellow  gloves,  who  holds  them  and  his  cigar 
by  the  tenure  of  two  hours'  dawdling  in  a  public  office, 
and  four  hours'  lounging  on  the  Calle  de  la  Montera, — 
and  many  another,  who  among  the  humbler  crowds  in 
the  Puerta  del  Sol,  with  his  threadbare  cloak  hiding 
much  poverty  and  hunger,  catches  the  tidings  of  a 
ministerial  crisis,  as  a  maiden  hears  love-music  at 
midnight,  —  would  have  been  Padre  Gregorio,  or 
Padre  Benito.,  in  former  times,  blessed  in  basket  and 
scrip.  There  may  be  some  doubt  whether  he  is 
not  quite  as  undesirable  a  functionary  in  his  present 
shape,  as  he  would  have  been  in  his  cowl ;  but,  at  all 
events,  there  is  nothing  about  him  too  sacred  to  be  med- 
dled with,  if  need  be,  and  there  is  some  chance  of  his 
being  useful,  should  the  future  give  him  an  opportunity. 
Whatever  may  have  been  said,  and  with  truth,  of  the 
intellectual  and  moral  estimate  properly  to  be  formed 
of  the  monks,  there  has  been,  it  must  be  admitted,  but 
little  cause   to  complain  of  the  secular  clergy.     With 


SPAIN.  285 

those  exceptions  which  the  temptations  and  privileges 
of  an  establishment  necessarily  produce  and  encourage 
in  all  countries,  the  Spanish  Church  —  abstracted  from 
the  monastic  orders  —  has  faithfully  and  ably  dis- 
charged its  duty  to  religion  and  society.  The  most 
independent  and  decided  advocates  of  the  reforms 
which  have  corrected  its  abuses  have  borne  this  tribute 
to  its  merits,  and,  even  among  the  most  radical  Pro- 
gresistas  I  have  met,  I  have  never  heard  its  justice  dis- 
puted. Of  the  distinguished  literary  men  whom  the  na- 
tion has  produced,  —  poets,  historians,  scholars,  —  some 
of  the  first  have  sprung  from  the  bosom  of  the  Church. 
In  contests  where  freedom  has  been  involved,  there 
have  always  been  champions  for  the  right,  among  the 
leaders  of  the  clergy.  In  the  Councils  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  among  its  theologians,  the  Spanish  priest- 
hood have  always  occupied  the  first  rank.  How  much 
was  due  to  them,  in  tlie  infancy  of  European  civiliza- 
tion, the  enthusiastic  commentary  of  M.  Guizotjjn  the 
Councils  of  Toledo  will  illustrate.  Almost  all  the  mon- 
uments of  real  and  lasting  charity  to  be  found  in  the 
Peninsula,  attest  the  sincerity  and  constancy  of  their 
devotion  to  the  practical  spirit  of  Christianity.  Lord 
Clarendon,  for  so  many  years  Ambassador  at  Madrid, 
declared  in  the  House  of  Lords,  in  18.39,  that  during 
his  residence  at  that  capital  he  had  heard  in  the  Cortes, 
"  from  the  lips  of  Catholic  prelates  in  that  assembly, 
sentiments  of  Christian  charity  as  pure,  and  dictated  by 
as  entire  a  spirit  of  toleration,  as  he  had  ever  heard 
in  their  Lordships'  House."  An  English  historian  of 
reputation  *  does  not  hesitate  to  admit  that  the  Spanish 

*  Hist.  Spain,  Cabinet  Cyclopaidia,  Vol.  V.  p.  258. 


286  SPAIN. 

secular  clergy  will  sustain,  honorably,  a  comparison 
with  the  priesthood  of  the  Church  of  England.  The 
testimony  of  Widdrington,  after  long  years  of  patient 
and  impartial  observation  in  all  parts  of  the  Peninsula, 
is  hearty  and  comprehensive,  as  to  the  individual  worth 
and  usefulness  of  the  clergy  proper,  and  the  marked 
distinction  between  them  and  the  religious  orders,  in 
character,  ability,  and  public  estimation.  It  is  but 
proper  for  me  to  make  these  statements,  so  that  what 
I  have  said  may  create  no  unjust  impression,  and  that 
the  distinction  may  be  fairly  drawn  between  the  exter- 
nal and  accidental  institutions  which  have  surrounded 
the  religion  of  Spain,  and  the  influence  which  its  tenets 
and  teachers  have  had,  in  their  legitimate  province, 
upon  the  national  mind  and  heart. 

The  history  of  former  times  must  speak  for  itself; 
but  I  think  there  is  very  small  foundation,  now,  for  the 
common  impression,  that  Spain  is  what  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  call  "  priest-ridden."  Whatever  may  be  the 
cause, —  whether  it  be  the  fault  of  the  clergy,  or  of 
circumstances,  or  of  a  relapse  from  the  ancient  fervor 
of  the  national  enthusiasm  in  such  matters, — certain 
it  is,  that  the  Church  has  not  at  this  moment  any  de- 
cided control  over  the  popular  mind.  In  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, among  the  more  ignorant  and  uneducated  of  the 
people,  the  priesthood,  no  doubt,  exercise  that  sort  of 
influence  with  which  superior  intelligence  and  the 
nature  of  their  calling  must  of  necessity  clothe  them, 
—  an  influence  certainly  legitimate,  and  desirable 
unless  abused.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  history  of 
the  times  to  show  that  it  passes,  even  there,  beyond  the 
limits  which  properly  belong  to  it.     So  far  as  the  edu- 


SPAIN.  2S7 

cated  classes  arc  concerned, —  those  who  control  the 
opinion  of  the  nation  and  regulate  its  political  progres- 
sion,—  there  is  as  much  indcpenflence  of  clerical  dom- 
ination as  could  be  desired.  Indeed,  I  am  not  alto- 
gether sure  that  there  is  not  a  jealousy  of  it,  which 
someiimcs  leads  to  injustice  and  folly.  I  am  satisfied, 
that  in  the  United  States,  where  freedom  of  judgment 
on  such  questions  is  uidimited,  the  influence  of  the 
clergy,  upon  public  opinion  and  the  press,  gives  them 
a  dominion  over  public  action,  which  the  Church  of 
Spain,  with  all  its  prescriptions  and  organization,  cannot 
at  this  day  pretend  to  rival.  This  conclusion  is  drawn 
as  to  Spain,  not  merely  from  my  own  limited  observa- 
tion, but  from  what  was  told  me  by  those  who  had  the 
amplest  opportunities  of  knowing,  and  from  the  tone 
and  style  in  which  ecclesiastical  matters  were  handled 
by  the  various  journals  of  Madrid.  Of  course,  in 
speaking  of  the  influence  of  the  clergy  in  this  country, 
I  do  not  refer  to  any  supposed  ability  of  theirs  to  gov- 
ern the  public  mind,  for  sectarian  purposes ;  but  sim- 
ply of  their  power,  as  a  class,  over  public  sentiment 
and  those  who  move  its  tides.  In  this,  I  repeat  that 
I  have  no  doubt  of  their  advantage  over  the  Peninsu- 
lar clergy.  If  clerical  opinion  had  been  potent,  the 
Carlist  war  would  have  had  a  far  different  conclusion, 
and  the  legislative  measures,  which  have  formed  the 
principal  subject  of  this  chapter,  would  never  have 
approached  their  consummation.  That  the  rebellion 
ended  as  it  did,  and  that  the  Church  is  now  a  sti- 
pendiary of  the  state,  ought  to  satisfy  the  most  scepti- 
cal, that  ecclesiastical  despotism  is  not  a  present  evil. 
The  same  facts  may   indeed  suggest  a  serious  doubt, 


288  SPAIN. 

whether  the  Church,  independently  of  the  state  and 
unsupported  by  its  power,  had  ever  the  sway  which  has 
been  ascribed  to  it,  or  deserves  the  whole  of  the  respon- 
sibilities which  are  commonly  attached  to  it. 

Much  is  said,  by  travellers,  of  religious  intolerance  in 
Spain,  and  the  matter  deserves  a  cursory  notice  in  this 
connection.  Toleration  by  law  certainly  does  not  exist 
there.  The  Catholic  is,  by  the  constitution  and  the  con- 
cordat, the  religion  of  the  state,  and  no  other  form  of 
worship  is  allowed.  That  this  is  narrow,  behind  the  age, 
and  unbecoming  any  government  which  wears  the  sem- 
blance of  liberality,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say.  But  at  the 
same  time  it  is  fair  to  observe,  that  upon  the  Spaniards 
such  a  provision  works  no  hardship.  The  nation  is  Cath- 
olic, sincerely,  devotedly,  and  thoroughly,  and  a  consti- 
tution predicated  upon  any  other  idea  would  be  regarded 
as  an  imputation  and  an  anomaly.  The  prohibition  af- 
fects no  one  prejudicially,  except  the  strangers  who  are 
called  to  the  Peninsula  by  business  or  pleasure,  and 
their  number  has  been  heretofore  so  small,  that  it  is  not 
singular  they  should  have  been  left  out  of  the  account. 
When  the  commerce  of  the  nation  increases,  and  the 
influx  of  foreigners  becomes  greater,  —  as  from  year  to 
year  it  necessarily  must  be,  —  we  must  hope  that  the 
ban  will  be  removed,  which,  merely  nominal  as  it  now 
practically  is,  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  vicious  relic  of 
bad  times  and  principles. 

But  though  the  constitution  does  not  tolerate,  the 
people  certainly  do,  in  the  most  important  sense  of  the 
word.  A  stranger  might  pass  a  year  in  any  part  of 
Spain  that  I  have  visited,  without  hearing  a  single  in- 
quiry as  to  his  religious  opinions,  or  being  troubled  by 


SPAIN.  289 

one  impertinent  interference  with  the  entire  freedom  of 
his  religious  action.  If  a  man  assists  at  any  religious 
service  or  ceremonial,  he  is  required  to  take  no  more 
than  tliat  respectful  and  decorous  part,  which  good 
breeding,  of  itself,  would  suggest  to  every  gentleman. 
Whether  he  will  assist  or  not,  is  a  matter  entirely  with- 
in his  discretion.  No  one  will  notice  his  absence, — 
certainly  no  one  will  remind  him  of  it.  Now  and  then 
he  may  meet  a  clergyman  upon  the  street,  with  the 
viaticum,  and  he  will  be  expected  to  kneel,  or  at  all 
events  uncover,  as  it  passes.  If  his  piety  or  his  con- 
victions forbid  him  to  do  this,  he  can  get  himself  into* 
a  doorway  or  a  by-street,  where  he  will  find  some  very 
good  Catholics,  doing  the  same  thing,  on  account  of  their 
knees,  which  he  is  doing  for  his  conscience.  If  this 
is  not  satisfactory,  he  ought  to  proceed  homeward  at 
once  ;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  such  case  he  will 
say  nothing  about  toleration.  I  am  sorry  to  record 
it,  —  but  my  observation  of  Protestant  travellers^  gen- 
erally, in  Catholic  countries  has  been,  that  many  of 
them  claim  the  privilege  of  showing  on  all  occasions 
their  contempt  for  the  religion  of  those  about  them.  I 
have  seen  it  attempted,  and  indeed  carried  out,  over  and 
over  again,  —  by  persons  who  had  every  obligation  to 
know  better,  —  in  Catholic  cathedrals,  and  during  the 
most  solemn  acts  of  public  devotion.  Being  no  Catholic 
myself,  I  claim  to  say  this  without  prejudice.  In  Spain, 
such  things  will  not  be  permitted.  The  people  them- 
selves generally  participate  in  the  services  of  their 
Church  with  all  solemnity,  and  they  insist  that  those 
who  desire  to  witness  their  celebration  should  at  least 
abstain  from  the  manifestation  of  irreverence. 
19 


290  SPAIN. 

During  two  visits  to  Spain,  —  not  very  long,  it  is  true, 
but  quite  long  enough  to  give  me  some  opportunities  of 
observation,  —  I  do  not  remember  to  have  heard  a  single 
remark  made,  which  ought  to  have  wounded  the  sensi- 
bility of  any  sincere  but  rational  Protestant.  No  one 
ever  attempted  to  engage  me  in  controversy  upon  relig- 
ious matters,  or  to  annoy  me  by  the  remotest  sugges- 
tion of  heresy  or  schism.  Every  one  seemed  willing 
to  take  his  own  chance,  and  to  allow  me  the  same  privi- 
lege. By  some,  this  would  be  set  down  to  indiffer- 
ence ;  but  it  certainly  was  not  bigotry,  and  I  was  well 
'satisfied  to  take  it  for  enlightened  toleration.  Some  of 
the  more  zealous  Spaniards  themselves  would  some- 
times say,  that  the  religious  feeling  of  the  nation  had 
diminished,  —  that  lukewarmness  had  of  late  grown 
general  among  the  people.  I  was  inclined  to  think 
that  the  remark  was  just ;  but  I  was  still  quite  willing 
to  reciprocate  the  non-intervention  with  which  I  was 
favored,  and  allow  them  to  take  their  devotion  at  any 
temperature  they  preferred. 


SPAIN.  291 


XXIV. 


Edttcation.  —  Statistics.  —  System  of  iNSTnrcTiON.  — 
Schools — Universities.  —  Census  of  1803.  —  Univer- 
sity OF  Madrid  —  of  Alcala.  —  Complutensian  Poly- 
glot.—  Manuscripts.  —  Prescott's  Ferdinand  and  Is- 
abella.—  Sabau's  Translation  of  it. 

If  a  traveller  is  enterprising  and  industrious,  there 
are  few  countries  in  which  he  will  find  it  difficult  to 
visit  universities  and  schools,  look  over  collegiate 
courses,  and  collect  educational  statistics.  Spain,  how- 
ever, is  not  a  statistical  land.  There  is  no  organized 
or  thorough  system  there  for  the  ascertainment  of  nu- 
merical  facts,  so  that  even  the  ostensible  illustration 
which  those  deceptive  materials  afford  must,  in  a  great 
degree,  be  wanting  to  any  record  of  Peninsular  obser- 
vation. Statistics,  nevertheless,  at  the  best,  are  but  a 
poor  apology  for  real  information  as  to  the  state  of  na- 
tional instruction.  The  diffusion  and  the  degree  of 
knowledge  are  things  so  widely  different,  that  the  one, 
which  figures  may  readily  express,  furnishes  but  little 
clew  to  the  other,  which  they  cannot,  —  though  it  is  so 
much  better  worth  the  knowing.     The   line  between 


292  SPAIN. 

the  man  who  can  neither  read  nor  write  and  his  neigh- 
bor who  can  barely  do  either,  is  certainly  as  near  as 
need  be  to  a  mathematical  line,  in  the  matter  of  breadth  ; 
and  yet  a  statistical  table  will  make  its  widest  distinc- 
tion between  these,  while  it  will  draw  none  between  the 
profoundest  scholar  and  the  emptiest  sciolist  in  rudi- 
ments. It  is  as  if,  to  describe  the  condition  of  the  arts 
in  any  nation,  the  annalist  were  to  divide  the  people 
into  two  classes,  —  those  who  could  paint  and  those 
who  could  not.  The  favored  class  might  be  all  Ra- 
phaels or  Murillos,  and  they  might  be  all  sign-painters, 
quite  as  well. 

Nor  does  the  visitation  of  seminaries  of  learning, 
or  an  examination  of  the  routine  which  they  profess  to 
follow,  afford  results  that  are  much  more  valuable. 
Education  is  like  war.  A  good  plan  of  a  campaign  is 
an  excellent  thing,  but  victories,  generally,  are  won  by 
good  fighting.  A  limited  course,  well  taught,  makes 
better  scholars  than  the  amplest,  not  half  carried  out. 
It  is  not  in  what  they  profess  to  teach,  that  the  schools 
of  the  present  day  are  apt  to  be  defective.  If  there  be 
any  fault  in  that  particular,  it  is  that  they  promise  too 
much  ;  and  indeed  attempt  too  much,  likewise.  It  is 
the  execution,  therefore, —  not  the  plan, —  which  must 
be  observed,  if  the  observation  is  to  be  worth  any  thing  ; 
and  only  he  who  makes  the  experiment  can  fairly 
know  how  long  and  constant  that  observation  must  be, 
to  entitle  it  to  real  confidence.  The  imperfect  data 
which  follow  are  consequently  given  to  the  reader,  with 
the  fullest  persuasion  of  their  insufficiency,  as  a  basis 
for  any  accurate  appreciation  of  the  state  of  mental 
culture  in  Spain. 


SPAIN.  293 

It  has  already  been  said,  that,  by  the  constitution 
of  1812,  the  education  of  the  people  was  made  obliga- 
tory on  the  government.  Title  X.  provided  that  pri- 
mary schools  should  be  opened  in  all  the  towns  of  the 
realm,  and  that  universities  and  other  institutions  for 
instruction  in  literature,  science,  and  the  arts,  should  be 
established  wherever  it  might  be  found  expedient.  The 
Cortes  were  charged  with  the  duty  of  forming  a  proper 
system,  subject  only  to  the  restrictions,  that  the  plan 
of  instruction  should  be  uniform  throughout  the  coun- 
try, and  that  the  constitution  should  be  taught  and  ex- 
pounded in  every  establishment  opened  for  public  ed- 
ucation. A  Directory,  to  be  composed  of  suitable  per- 
sons, was  created  to  superintend  and  regulate  the  work- 
ing of  the  whole.  It  was  of  course  impossible  that  a 
system  could  mature,  sufficiently  for  beneficial  results 
of  any  extent,  during  the  several  brief  reigns  of  the 
constitution  of  1812.  Nevertheless,  the  work  was  un- 
dertaken and  prosecuted,  in  good  faith,  by  the  ablest 
men  of  the  country  ;  the  Directory  was  organized  ; 
plans  of  study  were  prescribed,  and  the  machinery  was 
set  in  motion,  as  well  as  might  be,  under  the  innumera- 
ble disadvantages  which  surrounded  the  movement. 

The  system  which  now  exists  went  into  operation  in 
1847,  when  the  "  Department  of  Commerce,  Instruc- 
tion, and  Public  Works"  was  created  by  royal  decree. 
The  appropriations  called  for  by  the  budget  of  18.50 
dedicated  nearly  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars to  the  branch  of  "  Instruction  "  alone.  Exclusive 
of  private  establishments  of  all  classes,  there  are  ten 
universities  and  forty-nine  institutes  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  government.    The  primary  and  other  schools 


294  SPAIN. 

throuo-h  the  whole  kingdom  reach  the  number  of  about 
sixteen  thousand.  Besides  the  institutions  thus  devoted 
to  general  and  ordinary  education,  there  are  many  in 
the  cities,  where  only  particular  branches  are  taught,  — 
such  as  Commerce,  Drawing,  Architecture,  Chemistry, 
Mathematics,  &c.  Of  these,  some  are  provided  for 
by  the  government,  and  others  are  under  the  direc- 
tion and  supported  by  the  patronage  of  the  Boards  of 
Trade,  and  the  various  literary  and  economical  socie- 
ties. Independently  of  the  funds  supplied  by  the  state, 
a  moderate  contribution  is  exacted  from  those  pupils 
whose  circumstances  render  it  proper  to  call  on  them  ; 
but  education  is  strictly  gratuitous,  in  all  its  depart- 
ments, where  the  parties  are  really  destitute. 

No  impediment  is  thrown  by  law  in  the  way  of  pri- 
vate teachers,  —  except  that  they  are  required  to  pro- 
duce certain  certificates  of  good  character  and  conduct, 
and  of  having  gone  through  a  prescribed  course,  which 
is  more  or  less  extensive,  in  proportion  to  the  rank  of 
the  institution  they  may  desire  to  open.  It  will  not  be 
easy  to  invent  any  system,  by  which  Beranger's 

"Vieux  maitre  d'ecole, 
Fier  d'enseigner  ce  qu'il  ne  savait  pas," 

can  be  altogether  got  rid  of.  The  effort  to  diminish 
the  chances  of  his  appearance  is  nevertheless  a  praise- 
worthy one ;  and  while  priests  and  pilots,  physicians, 
lawyers,  and  lieutenants,  are,  for  the  most  part,  required 
to  undergo  an  examination,  before  they  are  permitted  to 
take  the  destinies  of  the  public  into  their  keeping,  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  upon  what  principle  the  school- 
house,  which  is  the  nursery  of  all  arts,  should  be  flung 
open  to  all  comers. 


SPAIN.  296 

By  the  best  statistical  estimates,  it  appoars  that,  in 
1850,  the  number  of  pupils  in  the  public  schools  alone 
(exclusive  of  the  universities  and  institutes)  was  in  the 
proportion  of  one  to  seventeen  of  the  whole  population. 
About  1,100,01)0  was  set  down  as  the  number  of  per- 
sons then  in  t^pain  who  could  read,  —  the  whole  popu- 
lation being  about  1'2, 135,000,  and  the  ratio  therefore 
as  one  to  eleven.  Limited  as  this  scale  may  appear,  it 
nevertheless  takes  quite  another  aspect  when  compared 
with  the  estimates  of  Moreau  de  Jonnes,  based  on  the 
census  of  1803,  and  not  very  materially  varied  in  1835, 
if  we  may  judge  from  tlic  notes  of  Madoz,  appended 
to  his  translation  of  !\I.  de  Jonnes's  work.  Out  of  a 
population  of  10,"250,000,  in  1803,  the  number  of  stu- 
dents in  all  the  educational  establishments  of  the  king- 
dom did  not  exceed  30,000,  or  about  one  to  every 
340  inhabitants.  This  e.xtraordinary  change  —  for  it 
is  extraordinary,  statistical  merely  though  its  evidences 
be  —  has  been  mainly  wrought  within  the  last  twenty 
years,  by  a  small  minority  of  thinking,  educated  men, 
strugghng  against  a  mass  comparatively  ignorant  and 
open  to  all  the  influences  for  which  ignorance  paves 
the  way.  It  has  been  wrought,  under  institutions  only 
partially  liberal,  in  the  midst  of  civil  strife,  dynas- 
tic controversy,  foreign  interference,  and  the  most 
serious  fiscal  derangements.  It  has,  happily,  been 
the  result,  not  of  a  violent  impulse  or  a  moment's 
patriotism  and  enthusiasm,  but  of  a  deliberate  and 
progressive  system,  gaining  strength  and  comprehen- 
siveness as  it  has  advanced.  There  is  therefore  no 
exao-freration  in  saying,  that  it  furnishes  demonstrative 
evidence,  in  its  way,   of  solid    national  development 


296  SPAIN. 

already,  and   that   definite   calculations   for  the  future 
may,  with  much  confidence,  be  based  upon  it. 

The  primary  or  elementary  schools  are  simply  what 
their  name  indicates.  The  studies  which  follow,  and 
are  called  estudios  de  segunda  ensenanza,  require  five 
years,  and  it  is  only  at  the  end  of  that  period,  and  after 
having  undergone  the  prescribed  examinations,  that  the 
degree  of  Bachelor  in  Philosophy  can  be  attained.  The 
Latin  is  the  only  ancient  language  which  this  course 
comprehends.  To  become  a  Licentiate  or  Doctor,  in 
any  of  the  five  Faculties,  —  Philosophy,  Theology,  Ju- 
risprudence, Medicine,  and  Pharmacy, —  requires  an 
extended  course  in  a  university,  varying,  as  to  its  length 
and  the  studies  involved,  according  to  the  degree  and 
the  Faculty.  So  far  as  one  may  judge  from  the  pro- 
gramme laid  down  and  the  list  of  works  which  form 
part  of  it,  the  system  of  education  is  certainly  ample 
and  thorough.  How  faithfully  teachers  and  scholars 
discharge  their  duties  I  do  not  pretend  to  have  had  any 
means  of  knowing,  upon  which  it  would  be  candid  to 
build  a  judgment.  It  may,  however,  with  propriety  be 
observed,  that  the  good  sense  and  liberal  attainments  of 
the  eminent  persons  who  had  the  formation  of  the  pres- 
ent system,  suggested  to  them  the  propriety  of  render- 
ing it  far  less  scholastic  and  artificial  than  that  which 
it  superseded.  As  a  consequence,  it  will  be  found  that 
the  young  men  now  leaving  college,  or  engaged  in  the 
higher  departments  of  university  education,  bring  with 
them,  or  are  prepared  and  trained  to  bring  with  them, 
into  the  world,  those  larger  ideas,  which  are  as  neces- 
sary to  their  distinction  or  success,  in  the  educated  so- 
ciety of  the  day,  as  they  would  have  been  considered 


SPAIN.  ii97 

danfjcrous  to  the  individual  and  the  state  under  the 
regimen  happily  extinct. 

The  University  of  Madrid,  probahly  the  most  flour- 
ishing now  in  tlio  kingdom,  is  the  successor  of  the  ven- 
erable University  of  Alcala  de  Henaros,  founded  by 
Cardinal  Ximenes  de  Cisneros,  in  the  days  of  the  Cath- 
olic sovereigns.  Its  transfer  to  tlie  capital  was  begun 
in  1836,  but  it  was  not  until  about  1845,  that  the  institu- 
tion and  its  dependencies  took  their  present  shape.  It 
is  now  complete  in  its  departments, —  its  professorships 
filled  with  men  of  high  attainments  in  their  respective 
branches,  and  its  popularity  permanently  established. 
The  name  of  Don  Pascual  de  CJayangos,  an  .Arabic 
scholar  perhaps  unsurpassed  in  Europe,  and  of  the 
most  accurate  and  extensive  learning  in  the  various  de- 
partments of  modern  literature,  is  one  of  those  which 
the  Spaniards  are  proud  to  refer  to,  as  showing  the 
grade  of  men  who  have  of  late  years  taken  the  chairs 
of  their  universities.  In  1819,  the  students  matriculat- 
ed in  the  University  of  Madrid,  and  the  institutions 
connected  with  it,  were  more  than  4,500  in  number  ;  so 
that  the  good  seed  does  not  seem  likely  to  want  places 
in  which  it  may  be  sown. 

The  mention  of  the  University  of  Alcala  will  proba- 
bly recall  to  the  reader's  recollection  the  celebrated 
edition  of  the  Bible,  issued  from  that  ancient  seat  of 
learning,  under  the  direction  of  its  founder,  and  com- 
monly known  as  the  Compkitensian  Polyglot.  In  re- 
gard to  the  antiquity  and  authenticity  of  the  manuscripts 
resorted  to  in  its  preparation,  and  consequently  the  au- 
thority of  its  text,  as  derived  from  them,  there  has  been 
a  good  deal  of  discussion  in  these  later  days  of  sccpti- 


298  SPAIN. 

cal  and  analytic  criticism.  Mr.  Prescott  *  states,  upon 
the  authority  of  a  German  Professor  who  visited  Alcala. 
in  1784,  that  the  disputed  question  can  never  be  settled 
satisfactorily,  inasmuch  as  the  librarian  of  that  time 
sold  the  manuscripts  to  a  rocket-maker,  as  waste  paper, 
and  they  duly  passed  off,  in  squibs,  like  baser  matter. 
The  fact,  if  truly  reported,  would  certainly  have  been  a 
very  disgraceful  one  to  Spain,  and  a  sad  one  for  the 
cause  of  accurate  knowledge  on  a  most  absorbing  sub- 
ject. It  however  turns  out,  happily,  that  Professor 
Moldenhauer  was  mistaken,  having  no  doubt  been  mis- 
led by  the  worthy  librarian,  who  would  perhaps  have 
been  wjlling  to  see  the  Professor  himself  go  up  on  a 
rocket,  rather  than  furnish  hraseros  and  patient  attend- 
ance for  his  lucubrations  over  Hebrew  manuscripts. 

Don  Pedro  Sabau  y  Larroya,  Professor  of  Jurispru- 
dence in  the  University  of  Madrid,  and  Secretary  to  the 
Academy  of  History  when  I  had  the  honor  of  assisting 
at  its  sessions,  has  translated  Mr.  Prescott's  work,  and, 
in  a  note  to  the  passage  referred  to,^  treats  the  whole 
Moldenhauer  story  as  a  "  pure  calumny."  The  manu- 
scripts of  the  Polyglot,  he  says,  were  carried  from  Al- 
cala, in  1837,  to  the  University  of  Madrid,  where  they 
are  now  deposited.  They  were  examined  there  by 
himself,  in  the  presence  of  the  Professor  of  Hebrew 
and  the  librarians  of  the  establishment.  As  the  origi- 
nal inventories  (if  any  ever  existed)  are  not  now  to  be 
found,  it  remains  yet  an  open  question,  whether  some 
of  the  manuscripts  may  not  have  been  mislaid  or  re- 
moved, and  whether,  indeed,  some  of  those  which  re- 

*  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  Vol.  III.  p.  325,  and  note  45. 


SPAIN. 


299 


main   may  not   have  suffered    injury-,  during  the   long 
years,  and   troul)lcs,  and   many  changes,   which  have 
rolled  over  and  througli  the  Peninsula,  since  the  Cardi- 
nal went  to  his  rest.     From  the   description   given   by 
Sr.  Sabau,  which   is  much   too  long  for  this  place,  it 
appears  that  the  manuscripts  now  open  to  inspection  in 
Madrid  are,  in  any  event,  of  extreme  and  curious  value. 
It  will  be  strange  if  some  enterprising  Biblical  scholar 
should  not  undertake  the  revision  of  them,  which  the 
German  Professor  sought  so  unsuccessfully  to  make. 
On  mv  way  home,  I  gave  to  our  intelligent   country- 
man, .Mr.  Henry  Stevens,  whom  I  had  the  pleasure  to 
know  in  London,  a  short  memorandum  of  the  manu- 
scripts which  Sr.  Sabau  enumerates.  •   He  requested  it 
for  publication  in  that  very  curious  and   useful  periodi- 
cal, "  Notes  and  Queries."    Whether  it  ever  appejired, 
or  the  attention  of  those  learned  in  such  matters  (which 
I  do  not  pretend  to  be)  was  ever  called  to  it,  my  hasty 
departure  prevented  me  from  knowing. 

The  reader,  whose  curiosity  may  induce  him  to  turn 
to  Sabau's  Prescott,  in  relation  to  this  matter,  will  find 
a  good  deal  of  unnecessary  indignation  displayed  against 
the  memory  of  the  German  Professor.  I  say  the  indig- 
nation is  unnecessary,  because,  although  the  accusation 
which  he  makes  is  one  of  very  grievous  Vandalism, 
it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  a  man  would  travel  from 
Germany  to  Spain, — and  especially  in  those  days  be- 
fore railroads, —  for  the  pleasure  of  inventing  and  re- 
tailing a  ridiculous  story.  The  truth  is,  that  Mr.  Sabau, 
though  a  person  of  considerable  ability  and  reputation, 
is  not  remarkable  for  the  breadth  of  his  views,  as  the 
notes  to  his  translation  will  show.     Jurisprudence  has 


300 


SPAIN. 


obviously  not  been  a  "  gladsome  light,"  though  it  may 
have  been  a  bright  one,  to  him,  for  the  tone  of  his 
writings,  generally,  is  neither  cheerful  nor  charitable. 
He  qualifies  the  wish  expressed  by  Mr.  Prescott,  in  his 
Preface,  for  the  "  civil  and  religious  liberty  "  of  Spain, 
by  a  note,  in  which  he  distinguishes  between  freedom 
from  such  physical  compulsion  and  persecution  as  the 
Inquisition  enforced,  and  freedom  in  a  general  sense. 
The  former  he  is  willing  to  accept  for  his  country,  the 
latter  he  protests  against.  His  comments  upon  other 
passages  are  in  the  same  mediseval  tone,  and  in  some 
places,  indeed,  he  has  softened  down  the  manly  lan- 
guage of  his  author,  until  it  no  longer  represents,  in  any 
way,  his  just  and  vigorous  sentiments.  It  is  true,  that 
Sr.  Sabau  has  not  done  this  without  notifying  the 
readej",  and  assigning  his  reasons ;  but  the  liberty  is 
unpardonable,  nevertheless.  A  translator  may  controvert 
the  text,  as  freely  and  as  positively  as  he  pleases,  but 
to  alter  it  is  not  one  of  his  privileges.  If  the  original 
is  challenged,  it  should  at  least  be  permitted  to  speak 
for  itself.  Even  in  ordinary  controversy,  it  would  be 
held  no  small  advantage  to  have  the  stating  of  your 
adversary's  argument,  as  well  as  of  your  own  reply  to 
it.  A  translator  has  his  original  sufficiently  in  his 
power,  at  the  best ;  for  it  is  rarely  a  profitable  business 
to  one  man's  thoughts,  that  they  should  pass  through  the 
sieve  of  another  man's  mind.  There  is  no  propriety, 
therefore,  in  adding  to  a  necessary  evil. 


SPAIN.  301 


XXV. 


Taxes  and  Modes  of  Collecting  them.  —  Reforms 
IN    Taxation.  —  The    Provincial    Defutatioxs    and 

;.  Ayuntamientos.  —  Grievances  and  Auuses.  —  The  Cus- 
toms.—Low  Salaries.  — Gate-Money.— Tax  on  Con- 
sumption. —  National  Debt. 

It  is  impossible  to  form  even  a  proximate  -idea  of 
the  total  amount  which  the  Spanish  people  contribute 
to  the  support  of  government.  The  yearly  estimates 
which  the  constitution  requires  to  be  presented  to  the 
Cortes  contain,  it  is  true,  a  detailed  statement  of  the 
sources  from  which  revenue  is  to  be  derived,  and  the 
objects  of  its  application.  But  they  are  necessarily 
confined  to  the  income  and  expenditures  of  the  govern- 
ment, for  national  purposes,  —  leaving  altogether  out  of 
consideration  the  large  sums  which  are  collected  on 
provincial  and  municipal  account.  The  comparative 
want  of  publicity  in  the  levying  and  disbursement  of 
these  latter  imposts  of  course  leaves  room  for  many 
abuses,  so  that,  doubtless,  the  proportion  which  the 
minor,  unreported  taxes  bear  to  the  whole  contributions 


302  SPAIN. 

of  the  nation,  is  much  larger  than  the  ordinary  course 
of  such  things  would  lead  one  to  suppose. 

Within  a  few  years  past,  the  system  of  taxation  has 
been  very  much  simplified.  A  number  of  special  and 
onerous  burdens  —  which  had  been  imposed  in  par- 
ticular emergencies  of  the  state,  or  by  occasional  usur- 
pations of  the  monarch,  and  had  been  made  perma- 
nent, though  the  occasions  or  pretexts  which  pro- 
duced them  had  been  almost  forgotten  —  have  been 
swept  away  by  the  representatives  of  the  people.  Ap- 
plying, as  these  did,  to  peculiar  classes  and  property, 
they  were  necessarily  even  more  odious  than  they  were 
oppressive  ;  and  being,  moreover,  founded  on  mere 
prescription,  in  many  of  their  details,  they  were  fre- 
quently attended  by  extortion  and  injustice,  for  which 
there  was  no  remedy.  The  present  plan  has,  at  all 
events,  the  merit  of  being,  in  the  main,  comprehen- 
sive and  general,  notwithstanding  it  gives  cause  for 
much  complaint,  in  other  particulars  which  will  be 
noted. 

The  sources  of  revenue  at  this  time  are  not  numer- 
ous. They  are  principally  regulated  by  the  tax-laws 
of  1845  and  1847.  The  most  important  is  the  impost 
on  real  property,  agriculture,  and  live  stock  ("  Iiimue- 
bles,  cidtivo,  y  ganaderia "),  which  in  1850  was  so 
levied  as  to  give  a  net  product  of  $  15,000,000.  At 
the  beginning  of  every  year,  a  ratable  proportion  of 
the  money  called  for  by  the  budget  which  the  Cortes 
may  adopt,  is  assessed  to  each  province.  The  duty  of 
dividing  the  whole  among  the  several  municipalities, 
devolves  upon  the  Dipulacion  Provincial,  which  is 
composed,  in  every  province,  of  the  Jefe  Politico  and 


SPAIN.  303 

Inlendente  (or  the  oflTiccrs  who,  undor  more  recent 
legislation,  may  discharge  their  functions),  and  a  certain 
iiutnbcr  of  Deputies,  elected  by  a  majority  of  those 
qualified  to  vote  for  members  of  the  Cortes.  The 
Dipulacion  is  likewise  clothed  with  the  power  of  reg- 
ulating the  provincial  taxes  and  assessments, —  direct- 
ing the  internal  affairs  of  the  provinces,  —  managing 
their  public  works  and  property,  with  subjection  to  ex- 
isting laws,  —  and  proposing  to  the  government,  for  its 
consideration,  such  matters  of  provincial  interest  and 
policy  as  the  public  good  may  from  time  to  time  sug- 
gest The  proper  amount  of  taxes  having  been  as- 
sessed to  each  municipality,  the  appointment  among 
the  individual  contributors  is  made  by  the  several 
ayunlamientos,  and  an  equal  number  of  the  principal 
tax-payers  themselves.  The  assessments  are  yearly. 
Real  estate,  when  leased,  is  taxed  according  to  its  an- 
nual value  to  the  proprietor.  If  unproductive^it  con- 
tributes nothing.  Farms,  with  their  cattle  and  utensils, 
in  the  hands  of  the  owner  himself,  are  estimated  by  as 
close  an  approximation  as  possible  to  their  actual,  clear 
profits.  The  valuation  is  never  arbitrary,  when  there 
are  facts  upon  which  it  may  be  based,  and  indeed,  so 
far  as  legislation  may  avail  to  such  ends,  the  law  pro- 
vides, wisely  and  prudently,  for  the  doing  of  justice 
in  the  assessments  to  both  the  state  and  the  citizen. 
Complaints,  nevertheless,  as  to  the  operation  of  the  sys- 
tem, were  frequent  and  serious,  when  I  was  in  Spain, 
and  they  were  repeated  so  often  in  the  Cortes,  by  Dep- 
uties of  character  and  moderation,  as  to  be  obviously 
founded  on  something  more  than  the  proverbial  unpop- 
ularity of  tax-laws  throughout  the  world. 


304  SPAIN. 

From  {he  best  information  I  could  obtain,  Sr.  Bravo 
Murillo  was  certainly  right,  in  saying  that  the  amount  of 
sixty  millions  of  dollars  was  by  no  means  larger  than 
Spain  could  readily  pay  to  the  central  government. 
The  grievances,  so  often  made  the  subject  of  remon- 
strance, arose  from  the  distribution  and  collection  of 
the  taxes,  and  not  from  their  amount.  In  spite  of  all 
statutory  precautions,  the  assessments,  I  was  inforn)ed, 
were  very  unequally  and  unfairly  made  in  some  of  the 
provinces,  and  there  existed  no  sufficient  accessible 
remedy,  even  in  cases  of  great  hardship.  But  it  was 
in  the  time  and  mode  of  their  collection,  that  the  public 
burdens  were  made  to  weigh  most  heavily.  It  was  the 
interest  of  the  officials  to  collect,  if  possible,  by  execu- 
tion ;  the  perquisites  resulting  to  them  in  such  case 
being  proportionally  very  large.  The  result  was,  that, 
in  seasons  when  the  failure  of  any  particular  crop  — 
perhaps  the  chief  dependence  of  the  agricultural  year 
—  would  embarrass  the  farmers  in  particular  districts, 
those  districts  would  as  certainly  be  the  mark  of  the 
tax-gatherer's  utmost  extortion.  The  time  within  which 
execution  might  be  levied,  in  case  of  non-payment,  was 
entirely  too  short ;  the  proceedings  were  arbitrary  and 
summary  in  a  high  degree,  and  there  was  no  provision 
for  the  redemption  of  the  property  sold,  within  a  defi- 
nite period,  no  matter  how  great  might  be  the  sacrifice 
in  its  sale.  In  a  country  like  Spain,  where  —  although 
there  is  comparatively  little  destitution  —  there  is  a 
very  large  portion  of  the  rural  population  whose  daily 
labor  can  produce  but  daily  bread,  it  will  be  readily 
seen  that  the  severe  and  stringent  application  of  coer- 
cive measures  must  result  often  in  absolute  ruin.     This 


SPAI?T.  305 

effect  is  the  more  likely  to  be  general,  when  it  is  pro- 
duced at  all,  from  the  fact,  that,  in  many  of  the  agri- 
cultural districts,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  degree  of 
its  improvement,  the  staples  and  the  modes  and  means 
of  their  cultivation  and  production,  are  so  entirely  iden- 
tical, that  one  general  cause  —  a  drought,  for  example 
—  will  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  all  the  small  farmers, 
alike,  to  contribute  any  thing,  for  the  time,  to  the  ex- 
penses of  the  state. 

Next  to  the  tax  of  which  I  have  spoken,  the  customs 
furnish  the  largest  item  of  revenue.  The  anticipated 
receipts  from  that  source,  for  1S50,  were  eight  millions 
of  dollars,  an  insignificant  sum  enough,  in  view  of  what 
might  be  obtained  by  a  rational  —  one  might  almost 
say  a  sane  —  adjustment  of  the  tariff  on  imports.  Not- 
withstanding its  insignificance,  however,  it  was  a  con- 
siderable improvement  on  the  past,  —  the  result  of  the 
improved  ideas  of  political  economy  which  hTul  for 
some  time  been  prevailing  at  Madrid.  It  is  certainly  dif- 
ficult to  understand  how  men  could  be  blind  so  long  to  the 
evils  and  errors  of  the  prohibitory  system,  whose  worst 
absurdities  they  were  illustrating  and  developing  daily. 
It  is  almost  as  singular,  that  a  favorable  change,  when 
once  begun,  should  advance  so  tardily.  Nevertheless, 
it  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  current  has  set  at 
last  in  the  right  direction,  and  that  the  tendency  of 
Spanish  legislation  is  now  as  strong  towards  the  removal 
of  commercial  restrictions,  as  the  proper  protection  of 
the  national  interests  will  justify.  I  do  not  say  that 
such  is  the  present  temper  of  the  whole  nation,  or 
that  the  destruction  of  long-established  monopolies  and 
prejudices  can  be  accomplished  at  once,  and  without 
20 


306  SPAIN. 

resistance  ;  but  that  the  thinking  men  of  all  parties,  at 
Madrid,  seem  to  unite  in  pressing  such  modifications  of 
the  tariff,  as  will  finally  raise  it  to  the  most  productive 
scale  for  the  revenue,  while  they  at  the  same  time 
foster  most  effectively  the  great  interests  of  commerce 
and  manufactures.  That  such  a  result  is  not  easily 
attained,  the  experience  of  the  United  States  is  most 
ample  to  show.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Spaniards 
will  profit  by  it  and  by  their  own,  so  as  to  avoid,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  building  up  or  the  maintenance  of 
a  system  which  has  no  support  but  legislation,  and  the 
disregard,  on  the  other,  of  those  suggestions,  by  which 
nature  and  the  instincts  and  tendencies  of  a  people 
point  out  to  its  government  the  policy  and  limits  of 
protection. 

It  would  be  tedious  and  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  all 
the  other  methods  of  obtaining  revenue  which  prevail  in 
Spain.  They  are  such  as  the  experience  of  most  civil- 
ized nations  has  devised,  and  perhaps,  on  the  whole, 
are  as  fair  and  productive  in  themselves  as  any  general 
scheme  can  be  made.  Of  the  very  large  percentage 
which  is  paid  for  their  collection,  I  have  already  had 
occasion  to  speak  ;  but  although  there  is  no  evil  con- 
nected with  the  revenue  which  it  is  more  important  to 
cure,  there  is  perhaps  none  in  Spain  whose  correction 
will  be  more  difficult.  It  is  not  easy  to  persuade  the 
public,  anywhere,  that  any,  system  can  be  economical, 
which  involves  the  increase  ^f  salaries.  Every  one 
can  perceive  the  difference  between  a  small  and  a 
larger  sum  of  money  ;  it  is  not  every  one  who  will 
appreciate  the  infinitely  larger  difference  between  the 
services  of  an  efficient  and  honest  officer,  and  those  of 


SPAIN.  307 

one  who  is  willing  to  work  at  any  price,  for  tlic  sake 
of  bread  and  of  profiting  by  contingencies.  There  are 
always  so  many  persons  ready  to  serve  the  state  cheaply, 
who  have  never  been  under  an  inquisition  as  idiots  or 
sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  crime,  and  who  therefore, 
in  intendment  of  law,  are  sensible  and  honest,  that  it 
is  quite  useless  to  assert  that  good  men  will  not  accept 
otlice  at  low  rates  of  compensation.  Demagogues  will 
always  be  found  to  say  that  these  excellent  people  can 
be  had  at  minimum  prices,  and  to  prove,  by  addition  or 
subtraction,  the  detriment  which  the  commonwealth 
will  suffer  by  rejecting  their  bids.  By  such  and  simi- 
lar devices,  the  public  are  seduced  from  their  propriety 
so  far  as  to  forget,  in  affairs  of  government,  the  princi- 
ple so  universal  in  private  experience,  —  that  a  good 
thing  is  only  to  be  had  by  paying  for  it.  In  Spain,  the 
inferior  officers  of  the  revenue  are  wretchedly  paid. 
To  live  by  their  salaries  is  out  of  the  question,"^— they 
must  of  course  live  from  their  offices.  They  must  ac- 
cept bribes,  to  permit  the  violation  of  the  laws,  —  they 
must  oppress  where  they  dare,  and  can  make  it  profit- 
able,—  they  must  take  their  own  share  of  what  passes 
through  their  hands.  The  public  can  never  know  the 
extent  to  which  this  is  done.  If  the  revenue  falls  short, 
other  reasons  can  be  given  for  it,  and  the  fallacy  of 
those  reasons  cannot  be  demonstrated.  While,  there- 
fore, the  popularity-hunters  in  the  Cortes  can  show  in 
a  moment  the  ditlerence  to  the  public  between  a  salaiy 
of  one  peseta  daily  and  a  salary  of  two,  the  advocates 
of  the  more  liberal  system  can  only  rely  upon  proba- 
bilities and  inferences,  which,  strong  as  they  may  be, 
are  yet  not  arithmetic.     Thus  it  is,  that,  although  every 


308  SPAIN. 

man  in  Spain  knows  the  existence  of  corruption  in 
the  fiscal  department  and  throughout  many  of  its  minor 
details,  it  will  be  long  before  there  will  be  moral 
courage  enough  in  the  legislature,  with  the  cry  of  re- 
trenchment ringing  in  its  ears,  to  commence  an  eco- 
nomical reform,  by  a  system  of  liberal  compensation. 

Perhaps  the  most  odious  of  the  Spanish  taxes — cer- 
tainly the  most  justly  odious  —  is  that  called  the  derecho 
de  puertas, —  an  octroi,  or  gate-duty,  imitated  from  the 
French,  and  levied  upon  articles  which  are  carried  into 
the  cities  and  certain  authorized  towns.  Not  the  least 
among  its  evils  are  the  large  number  of  custom-house 
officers  it  requires,  the  frequent  opportunities  it  affords 
for  oppression  and  peculation,  and  the  sort  of  espio- 
nage under  which  it  places,  all  travellers  and  carriers. 
But  its  principal  vice  is  the  restraint  it  puts  upon  the 
freedom  of  trade  and  intercourse  between  different 
parts  of  the  country.  No  one  can  appreciate,  without 
frequently  observing,  the  infinite  and  petty  delays  and 
vexations  to  which  it  exposes  the  country  people  and 
small  dealers,  to  whom  time  is  of  the  utmost  value,  and 
upon  whom  it  operates,  perhaps,  more  severely  in  this 
regard,  than  in  the  mere  amount  of  contribution  which 
is  exacted  from  them.  It  is  really  sad  to  see  a  line  of  in- 
dustrious, poor  fellows  —  who  have  travelled,  from  early 
dawn,  to  sell,  perhaps,  a  donkey-load  of  charcoal  —  de- 
tained at  the  gates,  as  they  often  are,  till  the  best  hours 
of  the  morning  have  passed  away ;  while  the  gentle- 
men of  the  customs  —  too  few  to  discharge  their  duties 
promptly,  or  too  idle  to  discharge  them  at  all,  except 
for  a  compensation  —  are  quietly  smoking  their  cigar- 
ritos,  in  shade  or  sunshine,  according  to  the  season. 


SPAIN.  309 

The  patience,  however,  is  remarkable,  with  which  the 
sufTcrcrs  will  ciulurc  all  this,  —  too  happy  if  they  arc 
not  required  to  empty  their  panniers  to  the  very  bottom, 
so  that  the  official  eye  may  see,  where  the  official  hand 
has  failed  to  discover,  any  contraband  bottle  of  wine  or 
aguardiente. 

Connected  with  the  gate-tax  in  its  unpopularity  is 
the  dcrccho  de  cuiisumo,  or  tax  on  consumption,  which 
is  levied  upon  all  articles  consumed  in  the  cities  and 
towns.  It  is  the  more  objectionable,  since  it  is  regarded 
but  as  a  duplicate  of  the  derecho  de  puertas.,  —  a  doing 
over  of  what  is  justly  con.sidered  bad  enough  when 
done  once.  The  worst  of  both  these  impositionsis,  that 
they  may  be  applied  to  the  same  articles  of  trade  or 
consumption  a  dozen  times,  if  the  owner  thinks  proper, 
or  finds  it  necessary,  to  give  them  so  wide  a  circulation. 
An  acquaintance  from  Malaga,  who  was  sojourning  in 
Madrid,  told  me  one  day  that  he  had  directeH  some 
fruits  to  be  sent  up  from  home,  for  his  own  use  and  to 
be  presented  to  his  friends  in  the  capital.  They  had 
been  produced  on  his  own  farm,  upon  which,  and  on 
its  stock,  he  had  paid  direct  taxes  proportionate  to  its 
crops.  They  had  been  carried  into  Malaga,  to  be  stored, 
and  he  had  there  paid  the  gate-tax  and  the  tax  on  con- 
sumption. "I  learned  yesterday,"  he  added,  "  that  they 
had  arrived  here,  and  when  1  had  paid  the  charge  of  the 
galera  for  bringing  them,  —  which  was  no  trifle, —  I  was 
called  on  for  the  derecho  de  puertas  and  the  derecho  de 
consumo  for  Madrid.  I  have  not  made  up  my  mind 
whether  I  shall  not  beg  the  Sehor  carabinero  who  has 
them  in  charge  to  favor  me  by  eating  them.  Yque  le 
hagan  buen  provecho  !    May  they  do  him  much  good  !  " 


310  SPAIN. 

Tn  184S  there  was  a  royal  decree,  authorizing  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  exempt  from  the  derecho 
de  puertas  the  raw  materials  used  in  the  various  manu- 
factures of  the  country,  and  thiswithout  regard  to  their 
being  of  foreign  or  domestic  origin.  The  measure  was, 
no  doubt,  an  extremely  wise  one,  and  has  contributed  its 
share  towards  the  improvement  which  the  manufactur- 
ing industry  of  Spain  has,  of  late  years,  obviously  un- 
dergone. By  the  law  of  presupuestos,  in  1850,  the 
authority  was  extended  to  such  other  articles  as  might 
seem  to  require  a  similar  exemption,  —  provided  always 
that  the  revenue  from  gate-money  should  not  be,  thei'S- 
by,  too  seriously  impaired.  The  latter  clause  was  quite 
unnecessary,  as  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  finance  min- 
isters anywhere,  and  least  of  all  in  Spain,  to  cut  down 
any  available  means  of  revenue,  where  they  are  al- 
lowed to  exercise  a  discretion.  Sr.  Bravo  Murillo,  in 
April,  1850,  published  a  list  of  about  one  hundred  and 
seventy  additional  articles  to  which  the  freedom  of  the 
gates  was  given.  They  were  principally  drugs,  medi- 
cinal plants,  and  vegetable  and  mineral  substances,  em- 
ployed in  the  various  mechanic  arts.  Their  exemption 
seemed  but  a  trifle,  until  1  reflected  upon  the  incalcula- 
ble annoyance  and  injustice  which  the  levying  of  taxes 
on  them  must  previously  have  wrought.  There  were 
several  commodities,  among  them,  which  struck  me 
as  somewhat  singular :  such,  for  example,  as  live  vi- 
pers ;  dried  do.;  sand  for  scouring;  human  hair; 
do.  manufactured  ;  Cantharides  ;  Canary  birds  ;  leech- 
es, &LC.,  &c.  Even  if  the  snakes,  the  birds,  or  the  flies 
had  not  been  permitted  to  enter  the  cities  scot-free^ 
without  legislation,  a  fellow-feeling  ought  to  have  suf- 


SPAIN.  .'Ill 

ficecl,  of  itself,  to  save  the  leeches,  at  all  events,  from 
the  rude  hands  of  the  tax-gatherer. 

A  chapter  on    tho    Hnances  of  Spain  would  hardly 
seem  complete,  without  some   allusion  to   tlic  national 
debt,  but  as  this,  unfortunately,  is  somewhat  over  nine 
hundred  millions,  and  is  not  much  nearer  being  paid  than 
it   was   when  contracted,  it  has  no  very  practical  con- 
nection with  the  financial  interests  of  the  day.     If  such 
things  be  national  blessings,  as  is  sometimes  contended, 
the  cup  of  the  national  beatitude   ought  certainly  to  be 
full.     Every  now  and  then  some  "  agent  of  the  bond- 
holders" is  said  to  visit  Madrid,  with  a  view  to  an  ar- 
rangement for  the  punctual  payment  of  interest.     But 
this  announcement  has  been  made   so  often,  and   the 
"arrangement"  is  still  so  far  from  its  consummation, 
that  the  "  agent"  is  now  generally  regarded  as  a  news- 
paper fiction,  and  the  debt  answers  but  little  purpose, 
save  as  a  shuttlecock  for  tlie  players  at  the   Stock  E.x- 
change.     Rumor  occasionally  alludes  to  large  fortunes, 
supposed  to  have  been  made  from  speculations  in  it,  by 
persons  high  in  authority,  who  are  able  to  foretell,  if  not 
to  cause,  the  fluctuations  of  its  market  value.     There 
is,  no  doubt,  truth  in  these  reports ;  for  Lord  Bacon  has 
wisely  said,  that  "  want  supplicth  itself  of  what  is  next, 
and  many  times  the  next  way."     It  may  be  private  un- 
charitablencss   to   believe   ill   of  our  neighbors,  but   it 
sometimes  is  public  wisdom  not  to   be  incredulous  in 
rejiard  to  the  sins  of  our  rulers.     The   reader  who  is 
disposed  to  be  amiable  may  see  some  prospect  of  the 
debt's   being  extinguished   in    the  fact   that   8  160,60'^ 
were  applied  in  July,  1852,  to  the  redemption  of  pre- 
ferred securities  ! 


312  SPAIN. 


XXVI. 


Internal  Improvements.  —  Agricultural  and  Mineral 
Wealth.  —  Natural  Obstacles.  —  Present  Facilities 
FOR  Travel  and  Transportation.  —  Safety  of  the 
KoADS.  —  Police.  —  New  Roads  and  Canals.  —  Admin- 
istration OF  Roads  and  Canals. —  Railroads  pro- 
jected    AND      COMPLETED.  RaILROAD      COMMITTEE     OF 

THE  Cortes.  —  Royal  Decree  and  Participation  of 
THE  Government  in  the  Management  of  Railroads. — 
Influx  of  Capital,  and  its  Results. 

If  there  be  any  one  subject  of  greater  interest,  at  this 
moment,  to  Spain,  than  all  others,  it  is  a  comprehensive 
and  thorough  system  of  internal  improvements.  It  is  a 
matter  vital  to  her  prosperity  in  all  points  of  view,  — 
not  merely  with  reference  to  the  development  of  her 
material  resources,  but  to  the  diffusion  of  liberal  and 
enlightened  opinions,  and  the  spread  of  civilization 
among  her  people.  During  the  Carlist  war,  it  was  no- 
torious that  the  Pretender  had  no  strength  —  almost  no 
party — in  the  cities  and  large  towns,  and  wherever 
intelligence  was  diffused.  His  strongholds  were  in  the 
fastnesses  of  the  hills,  the  almost  inaccessible  valleys, 
and  wherever  the  isolation  of  the  people  from  the  rest 


SPAIN.  313 

of  the  world  was  most  complete.  I  do  not,  of  course, 
speak,  ill  this  connection,  of  the  footing  which  Don 
Carlos  maintained  in  the  Basque  Provinces.  His  pop- 
ularity there  was  altogctiier  independent  of  any  at- 
tachment to  liis  person,  or  to  the  despotic  and  retrograde 
principles  of  which  he  was  the  representative,  lie 
was  identified  hy  tiie  intelligent  and  sturdy  inhabitants 
with  \he\rfueros,  or  prescriptive  privileges  ,and  it  was 
for  these,  and  not  for  him  or  his  cause,  as  is  commonly 
supposed,  that  their  unyielding  struggle  was  kept  up. 
But,  elsewhere,  the  devotion  of  the  rural  districts  to 
the  Pretender  was  universally  proportioned,  in  its  in- 
tensity and  its  extent,  to  the  degree  of  their  remoteness 
from  the  sources  of  information,  and  the  diflicnity  of 
their  intercourse  with  the  other  portions  of  the  kingdom. 
And  so  it  must  always  be.  New  ideas  cannot  enter 
rapidly,  or  be  accepted  with  intelligent  welcome,  where 
the  people  who  are  to  carry  or  receive  them  hSVe  only 
access  to  each  other,  and  to  the  living  stream  of  human 
thought  and  movement,  by  mule-paths  over  rugged 
mountains.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  men  can  get 
rid  of  their  swaddling-clothes,  while  they  are  compelled 
to  lie  in  the  cradles  in  which  they  were  rocked.  I  think 
it  is  Sidney  Smith  who  says  that  "  the  wisdom  of  our 
ancestors  is  the  usual  topic,  whenever  the  folly  of  their 
descendants  is  to  be  defended  "  ;  but  how  are  men  to 
get  beyond  the  follies  of  their  progenitors,  if  they  have 
no  opportunity  to  acquire  wisdom  of  their  own  ?  When 
the  oracle  foretold  to  Philip  that  he  might  cleave  the 
wall  with  his  wedge  of  gold,  it  presupposed  some  crev- 
ice, through  which  the  work  mijjht  be  bcaun. 

To  see  wliat  might  be  done  for  the  material  wealth 


314 


SPAIN. 


of  Spain,  by  a  judicious  system   of  internal  improve- 
ments, it  is  only  necessary  to  look  for  a  moment  at 
her  geographical  position  and  resources.     Though  not 
abounding  in  ports  of  the  first  class,  she  has  still  enough 
to   furnish   outlets  for  all  the   possible    productions  of 
her  soil  and  industry.     "  Her  agricultural   products," 
says  Loudon,*  "  include  all  those  of  the  rest  of  Europe 
and  most  of  those  of  the  West  Indies:  besides  all  the 
grains  ;  for  the  production  of  which  some  provinces  are 
more   celebrated   than   others,   and  most  of  them  are 
known  to  produce  the   best  wheat  in  Europe."     Her 
soil   and  climate   are   as  various,  and  the  face  of  the 
country  is   as   diversified,  as  so  unlimited  a  range  of 
products  could   require.     Mountain  and   valley,   plain 
and  vega,  vineyard,  cornfield,  pasture,  and  sheepwalk, 
—  all   contribute   their   shares    to   the   bounty   of  her 
agriculture.     Nor  are    the   treasures   beneath   the  soil 
less  varied  and  abundant  than  those  which  spring  from 
it.     Copper  and  lead  are  found  in  large  quantities,  and 
in   the    most  valuable  combinations.     The  quicksilver 
mine  of  Almaden  is  inexhaustible.     Zinc  abounds  in 
La  Mancha  and  the  Asturias.     Black-tead  of  the  first 
quality    is    to    be  had   abundantly    through    Andalusia. 
Alum,  saltpetre,  and  salt  are  the  riches  of  various  dis- 
tricts.    Iron  of  the   best  quality,  and  in   inexhaustible 
deposits,  is  to  be  found  throughout  the  whole  kingdom, 
especially  in  the  northern  and  more  industrious  provin- 
ces, and  at  Marbella  on  the*  Mediterranean,  not  far  from 
Malaga,  where  there  is  a  mountain  almost  entirelv  com- 
posed  of  it.     Of  the  coal  mines  of  the  Asturias,  Wid- 

*  Encyclopaedia  of  Agriculture,  Sec.  721. 


SPAIN. 


313 


drington  says  that  "  the  (jiiantity  is  inexhaustible,  the 
quality  excellent,  the  working  of  extraordinary  facility, 
and  tiie  communication  easy  with  the  sea."  Near 
Villanueva  del  Rio,  by  the  Guadalquivir,  there  is  also 
an  extensive  deposit  of  coal,  which  is  used  for  steam- 
navigation  on  that  river  ;  but  it  is,  like  the  most  of  the 
mines  which  have  been  referred  to,  only  imperfectly 
worked.  Baron  Liebig,*  speaking  of  the  extensive 
formation  of  phosphate  of  lime,  which  was  explored,  in 
Estremadura,  by  I>r.  Daubeny  of  Oxford,  observes  : 
"  Tliis  is  one  of  the  treasures,  of  which  Spain  has  so 
many,  sullicient,  perhaps,  at  no  distant  period,  to  pay  a 
part  of  the  national  debt  of  that  country."  "  It  is  deeply 
to  be  regretted,"  he  adds,  "  that  the  railways  projected 
seven  years  ago,  which,  crossing  each  other  at  Madrid 
as  a  centre,  were  to  unite  Portugal  with  France,  and 
Madrid  with  both  seas,  have  not  been  executed.  These 
railways  would  jender  Spain  the  richest  coufitry  in 
Europe." 

With  these  and  similar  inducements  to  create  all 
possible  channels  for  internal  intercourse,  nature  has 
undoubtedlv  mingled  an  infinitude  of  obstacles,  which 
in  some  degree  excuse  the  paucity  and  imperfection  of 
the  facilities  which  at  present  exist.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  devise  a  more  unfavorable  topographical  arrange- 
ment for  the  construction  of  improvements  of  all  sorts. 
The  immense  central  plateau  of  the  Castiles  is  more 
than  two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  towards 
which  the  descent,  in  many  places,  is  sudden  and  pre- 
cipitous, —  obstructed  often,  in  the  most  important  quar- 

*  Letters  on  Chemistry,  p.  498,  note. 


316  SPAIN. 

ters,  by  mountains  of  painful  declivity  and  ruggedness. 
The  chief  mountain  ranges  which  cross  the  Penin- 
sula do  so  transversely,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
present  as  many  lines  of  impediment  as  possible,  in 
the  directions  which  the  most  valuable  works  must  take. 
The  rivers,  in  their  upper  portions,  run  mostly  in  nar- 
row channels,  between  high  and  rocky  banks,  difficult 
of  access,  often,  in  an  extreme  degree,  for  the  purposes 
of  canal  construction.  The  long  droughts  in  many 
districts,  and  the  paucity  of  streams  where  most  desira- 
ble, present  other  difficulties  in  this  regard,  which  are 
almost  insuperable.  In  the  presence  of  natural  obsta- 
cles so  numerous  and  real,  it  is  not  difficult  to  under- 
stand how  a  nation,  sparsely  peopled,  vexed  by  inva- 
sions and  civil  discord,  —  with  an  exhausted  treasury, 
an  impoverished  agriculture,  and  broken  industry, — 
should  have  shrunk  from  encountering  what,  under 
the  most  favorable  auspices,  must  be,  a  gigantic  labor, 
and  involve  an  enormous  expenditure. 

Bad,  however,  as  the  means  of  communication  and 
transportation  undoubtedly  are,  in  many  parts  of  Spain, 
the  common  ideas  of  other  countries  in  regard  thereto 
are  very  much  exaggerated.  It  is  gravely  stated,  in 
many  respectable  books  of  reference,  and  believed, 
with  a  shudder,  by  travellers,  who  would  otherwise 
enjoy  the  pleasure  and  profit  of  visiting  the  Peninsula, 
that  a  tourist  can  scarcely  see  any  thing  except  from 
his  saddle,  and  that  mules  and  donkeys  are  almost 
exclusively  the  common  carriers.  There  is  no  founda- 
tion whatever  for  such  notions.  Through  the  most  im- 
portant parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  especially  between 
the  principal  cities,  there  is  every  facility  which  good 


SPAIN.  317 

carriage-roads  and  excellent  dilif^cnccp,  constantly  run- 
ning, can  furnish  to  travellers  ;  and  the  galeras,  or 
wagon-lines,  for  the  transportation  of  merchandise,  are 
numerous,  —  often  very  well  conducted  and  reasona- 
bly prompt,  the  mountainous  nature  of  the  principal 
routes  being  taken  into  consideration.  Those  persons 
who  desire  to  explore  the  country,  —  to  penetrate  its 
romantic  recesses  and  enjoy  the  wildness  of  its  most 
secluded  scenery,  —  will  undoubtedly  be  compelled  to 
do  so  on  horseback,  and  trust  their  valuables  to  the  next 
mule-driver.  l?ut  in  such  cases  the  adventurousness 
of  the  journey  would  seem  to  be  an  attraction,  rather 
than  an  inconvenience  ;  and  one  can  hardly  expect 
the  appliances  of  civilization,  when  expressly  seeking 
the  beauties  of  primitive,  uncultivated  nature. 

It  may  be  well  to  say  in  this  place,  that  the  dangers 
of  Spanish  travel  have  been  quite  as  much  the  subject 
of  hyperbole  as  its  ditliculties,  —  perhaps,  indeed',  more. 
Since  the  civil  war  ended,  the  improved  security  and 
profit  of  peaceful  labor,  and  the  consolidation,  in  a  more 
permanent  and  effective  form,  of  the  elements  of  real 
government,  have  so  removed  the  temptations  to  law- 
lessness and  increased  the  probability  of  its  punish- 
ment, that  robberies  and  murders  upon  the  highway 
have  become  of  comparatively  infrequent  occurrence. 
The  new  road-police — the  guardias  civiles  —  are  an 
excellent  and  effective  corps,  and  by  their  numbers, 
activity,  and  energy  have  become  a  great  terror  to  evil- 
doers. They  are  to  be  met  in  all  directions,  traversing 
the  countrv  on  horseback  and  on  foot,  well  armed  and 
accoutred.  The  justice^  to  which  they  bring  the  crim- 
inals whom  they  arrest  is  so  decided  and  summary,  as 


318  SPAIN. 

to  have  diffused  already,  when  I  was  in  Spain,  that 
salutary  dread  of  -the  vigorous  and  active  administra- 
tion of  the  laws,  wliich  is  the  most  effectual  preventive 
of  crime,  and  especially  of  open  violence. 

So  far  as  the  construction  of  carriage-roads  is  con- 
cerned, but  little  could  be  added  to  the  energy  and  in- 
dustry with  which  the  system  of  improvements  has 
been  prosecuted,  since  the  final  establishment  of  peace. 
There  is  a  Board  of  Engineers  of  Roads,  —  originally 
organized  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century,  which, 
after  having  been  suppressed,  during  the  war  of  inde- 
pendence and  the  despotical  reaction  of  1823,  was 
placed  upon  a  secure  and  permanent  footing,  in  183(5, 
when  a  school  for  the  education  of  its  future  members 
was  established.  The  construction  and  improvement 
of  the  chief  national  and  provincial  highways  is  under 
the  charge  of  this  corps,  while  that  of  the  minor  (or,  as 
we  might  call  them,  country  or  township)  roads  is  in- 
trusted to  certain  "  Directors  of  By-roads  and  Canals 
for  Irrigation,"  who  were  created  a  board,  by  royal  de- 
cree, in  1848.  The  funds  for  the  construction  of  the 
last-mentioned  works  are  raised  by  the  proper  provin- 
cial and  municipal  authorities,  in  a  manner  provided  by 
law.  Those  which  are  of  a  national  character  are  de- 
pendent upon  the  Treasury.  The  amount  designated  for 
their  support,  in  the  budget  of  1850,  was  ^  1,452,360, 
over  and  above  $  84,657,  appropriated  to  the  pay  of 
the  engineer  board  and  the  support  of  its  school. 
Some  members  of  the  opposition  contended  that  a  very 
undue  proportion  of  the  amount  applicable  to  the  con- 
struction of  highways  was  absorbed  in  the  personal 
of  the   service,  —  that  is  to  say,  the   perquisites,  ex- 


SPAIN.  319 

penses,  and  it  may  be  the  pickings  and  stealinrrs  of  the 
various  ofTicials  concerned  in  it.  Doubtless  there  was 
truth  in  the  charge, —  for  it  was  .made  openly  and  re- 
sponsibly ;  but  it  was  equally  true,  that  the  roads  in 
progress  of  construction  were  advancing  with  much 
rapidity,  to  the  obvious  and  almost  incalculable  advan- 
tage of  some  of  the  most  important  districts.  In  many 
places  also,  they  were  reducing  the  grades  of  the  old 
roads,  with  great  benefit  to  their  practicability  for 
heavy  transportation,  if,  however,  on  the  whole,  the 
new  highways  shall  be  constructed  with  the  masterly 
skill  in  the  engineering  department,  and  the  solidity  of 
the  bridges  and  masonry,  wiiich  are  conspicuous  in 
the  older  works,  a  small  extra  appropriation  to  the 
personal  may  be  regarded  as  a  pardonable  sin. 

In  the  matter  of  railroads  and  canals,  there  is  less  to 
be  said  for  the  actual  improvement  of  Spain,  althoucrh 
projects  without  number,  and  especially  of  railroads, 
have  been  for  some  time  occupying  public  attention. 

"  Six  are  the  canals  for  navigation  which  we  have," 
says  Mellado,  in  1849,  "  but  none  of  them  finished,  —  in 
accordance  with  that  sort  of  fatality  which  has  always 
persecuted  Spain,  and  in  virtue  of  which  every  thing  use- 
ful is  left  to  be  done  {se  qxieda  por  hacer ).''''  The  only 
one  of  these  works  really  worth  noticing  is  the  Canal  of 
Castile,  referred  to  in  a  preceding  chapter.  Eighty-one 
miles  only  were  finished  ;  but  the  work  was  done  in 
the  most  substantial  and  permanent  manner,  so  that 
its  continuation,  now  so  actively  undertaken,  will  not 
be  embarrassed  by  the  necessity  of  extensive  repairs. 
It  runs  through  a  productive  country,  abounding  in  the 
best  bread-stulFs,  and  can  be  readily  and  copiously  sup. 


320  SPAIN. 

plied   from   the   Pisuerga,  which   washes  the   walls  of 
Valladolid.     Its  completion,  which  is  now  a  matter  of 
no  doubt,  will  give,  as  I  have  said,  a  most   important 
impulse  to  the  agriculture  of  Castile  and  the  commerce 
of  Santimder.     The  canalization  (as  they  called  it)  of 
the  Ebro  was  the  subject  of  a  good  deal  of  interest  and 
discussion  when  I  was  in  Spain,  and   it  seemed  likely 
then  to  be  realized  ;   but  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn 
whether   any    actual   progress  has   been  made   in  the 
enterprise.*     It  was  commenced  during  the    reign   of 
Charles  the  Third,  and  finished,  from  the  neighborhood 
of  Tudela,  nearly  to  Zaragoza.     Tortosa  was  its  con- 
templated terminus,  and  such  are  the  manifest  advan- 
tages  which  it  would  confer  upon  a  most  productive 
region,  that  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  even  the  most 
adverse  circumstances  could  have  prevented  its  com- 
pletion.    A  similar  observation   may  with  propriety  be 
made,  in  reference  to  the  lateral  Canal  of  the  Guadal- 
quivir, a  work  of  national  and  consummate  importance, 
a  portion  of  which  was  under  contract,  in  1850,  and 
which  seemed  to  have  been  taken  up  energetically  by 
both  the  government  and  private  capitalists.     How  far 
it  was  to  be  connected  with  a  former  noted,  but  unsuc- 
cessful, scheme  for  deepening  portions  of  the  channel 
as  far  as  Cordova,  I  was  unable  to  ascertain  ;  but  the 
consummation  of  either  project  would  make  an  epoch 
in  the  national  prosperity. 

When  I   left  Spain,  the  railway  between  Barcelona 
and  Mataro,  a  distance  of  fifteen   miles,  was  the  only 

*  It  is  now  announced  that  the  work  is  in  the  hands  of  contrac- 
tors for  speedy  completion. 


SPAIN.  321 

one  in  active  operation.  I  did  not  pass  over  it,  ImU  was 
informed  that,  although  an  excellent  road,  its  construc- 
tion had  involved  no  great  difficulty  or  expense.  I 
have  since  seen  an  announcement  in  tlic  journals,  of 
its  continuation  to  Arenys,  some  nine  miles  farther. 
In  the  autumn  of  1^50,  the  railway  between  Afadrid 
and  Aranjuez,  a  distance  of  twenty-four  or  five  miles, 
was  opened  with  great  magnificence,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Queen  and  Court.  This  road,  of  itself,  is  not 
of  very  great  usefulness  to  trade,  because,  although  di- 
rectly on  the  routes  between  Andalucia,  La  Mancha, 
Valencia,  &c.  and  the  capital,  it  still  forms  but  a  small 
portion  of  the  immense  lines  which  it  terminates.  Its 
completion,  however,  must  be  of  extreme  importance 
in  another  point  of  view,  by  bringing  those  who  work 
the  springs  of  government  at  the  capital  in  direct  and 
unavoidable  contact  with  the  wisdom,  value,  and  prac- 
ticability of  such  enterprises.  It  thus  may  He,  not 
only  the  beginning  of  a  great  central  work,  which  will 
unite  the  plains  of  Castile  with  the  shores  of  the  Medi- 
terranean and  the  wealth  of  the  West  and  South,  but 
perhaps  the  means  of  giving  a  direction  to  the  public 
mind  and  energy,  which  will  produce  general  results 
now  hardly  to  be  anticipated.  Already,  its  continuation 
to  Almansa,  on  the  route  to  Alicante,  is  under  contract 
and  rapidly  advancing. 

The  line  of  Langreo  in  the  Asturias,  established  for 
the  purpose  of  developing  the  immense  resources  of 
the  coal  region  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter,  was 
considerably  advanced  at  the  time  of  my  depart- 
ure, and  its  completion  was  looked  for  towards  the 
close  of  1850.  The  want  of  coal  in  Barcelona  was 
21 


322  SPAIN. 

suggesting  also,  to  the  people  of  that  enterprising 
capital,  the  necessity  of  a  railway  to  San  Juan  de  las 
Abadesas,  and  it  was  accordingly  projected  and  com- 
menced, with  the  usual  energy  of  the  Catalans.  Its 
construction  would  occupy,  it  was  supposed,  but  little 
over  two  years,  so  that  by  this  time  it  must  have  near- 
ly approached  its  termination.  During  the  present 
summer  (1852)  the  provincial  deputation  and  the  mu- 
nicipal corporation  of  Barcelona  have  petitioned  the 
government  for  leave  to  construct  a  railway  to  Zara- 
goza,  nearly  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  —  a  work 
of  great  difficulty,  and  which  must  of  necessity  be 
protracted  and  costly.  If  there  be  any  province  in 
which  such  an  enterprise  could  be  successful,  it  is  Cat- 
alonia, and  there  is  sufficient  wealth  and  commercial 
and  industrial  activity  among  the  inhabitants  to  render 
it  altogether  practicable.  Recent  accounts  treat  its  con- 
summation as  certain.  The  very  desire  of  so  shrewd 
and  calculating  a  people  to  take  so  heavy  a  respon- 
sibility on  their  own  shoulders,  is  evidence  at  once  of 
the  probable  productiveness  of  the  work,  and  of  the 
spirit  which  is  awake  in  the  nation. 

I  have  referred,  in  another  place,  to  the  railway  from 
Santander  to  Alar,  with  its  projected  continuation  to 
Valladolid  and  Burgos.  Important  as  this  must  be  to 
the  whole  North,  it  will  be  rendered  doubly  so  by  the 
completion  of  the  great  line  now  contemplated  between 
Madrid  and  the  frontier  of  the  Pyrenees,  at  Irun.  The 
government  seems  to  be  really  in  earnest,  in  regard  to 
this  latter  work,  —  having  but  lately  decreed  the  sale 
of  the  communal  property  in  the  provinces  through 
which  it  is  to  pass,  for  the   purpose  of  devoting  their 


SPAIN.  323 

proceeds  to  its  construction.     It  is  scarcely  possible  to 
overrate  the  benefits  with   which  the   successful  prose- 
cution of  so  gigantic  an  enterprise  would  be  pregnant. 
The  Pyrenees  would  then,  indeed,  exist  no  longer,  —  nut 
levelled,  as  the  ambition  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth  would 
have  had  them,  that   Spain  might  be   an  appanage  of 
France,  —  but  removed  for  ever,  as  a  barrier  to  Euro- 
ropean  intercourse  and  the   march  of  European  civil- 
ization.     Emboldened,  perhaps,  by  the   action   of  the 
government  in  regard  to  this  great  Northern  highway, 
or  awakened  at  last  to  a  sense  of  their  necessities  and 
resources,  the  people  of  the  South  have  also  laid  their 
hands    to   the   work.     The   authorities  of  Seville,   ac- 
cording  to   the   last   .idvices,   have  sought   permission 
to  devote  the  proceeds   of   their   communal   property 
also  to  the   construction  of  a  railroad,  which  is  to  ex- 
tend at  least  to   the   Sierra  Morena,  at  Cordova.     The 
nature  of  the  country  is  such   as  to  present  few  for- 
midable obstacles   to  this   enterprise,  and  its  success 
would  develop  the  riches  and    command   the  trade  of 
the  very  garden  of  Spain.     From  Cadiz  to  Jerez  and 
to  Seville  a  line  is  in  process  of  active  construction. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  mention  a  host  of  minor  enter- 
prises, projected,  or  more  or  less  advanced,  and  which, 
though  many  of  them  may  fail,  must  nevertheless 
result  in  something,  here  and  there,  of  great  and  per- 
manent advantage.  While  I  was  yet  in  Madrid,  a 
Committee  on  Railroads,  appointed  by  the  House  of 
Deputies,  was  holding  its  sessions  during  the  recess 
of  the  Cortes.  It  was  headed  by  Don  Salustiano  do 
Olozaga,  the  distinguished  Progresisla,  an  able  and 
enlightened   public  man.     Its   meetings  were  attended 


324  SPAIN. 

by  several  accomplished  engineers,  foreign  and  native, 
and  by  many  prominent  capitalists  and  enterprising  and 
public-spirited  citizens,  who  were  summoned  for  the 
purpose  of  consultation.  The  committee  was  active 
in  seeking,  from  them  and  from  other  trustworthy 
sources,  such  practical  and  scientific  information  as 
would  enable  its  members  to  report  the  most  judicious 
and  promising  scheme  of  general  internal  improvement. 
What  was  the  result  of  its  labors,  in  view  of  the  disso- 
lution of  the  Cortes  and  the  change  of  ministry  which 
followed,  I  have  never  ascertained.  It  was,  as  I  learned, 
the  first  pai'liamentary  inquisition  ever  held  in  Spain, 
and  was  regarded  with  great  favor  and  interest,  on  that 
account  and  as  a  valuable  precedent. 

Pending  the  action  of  the  Cortes,  a  royal  decree  was 
promulged,  prescribing  the  mode  of  applying  for,  and 
the  conditions  of  obtaining,  the  privilege  of  railway  con- 
struction. It  involved  —  as  the  Spanish  policy  in  such 
matters,  by  analogy  to  the  French  system,  now  always 
involves  —  a  participation  by  the  government  in  the 
control  of  the  companies,  which  is  foreign  to  all  our  no- 
tions of  private  enterprise  and  of  a  judicious  and  politic 
laissez  faire.  It  provided,  among  other  things,  for  a 
guaranty  by  tlie  government,  to  the  companies,  of  a 
minimum  interest  of  six  per  cent,  on  their  investments, 
—  to  commence  from  the  completion  of  the  works,  — 
together  with  a  sinking  fund  of  one  per  cent.,  upon  cer- 
tain conditions.  All  the  guaranties  of  the  government 
were  to  be  of  no  obligation,  in  case  the  works  should 
cease,  or  the  operation  of  the  roads  be  suspended,  by 
the  default  of  the  stockholders.  The  one  per  cent, 
sinking  fund  was  to  be  continued,  until  the  capita!  should 


SPAIN. 


325 


be  extinguishnd,  or,  in  other  words,  until  the  govern- 
ment should  become  the  purchaser  of  the  works. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  that  the  exercise  of  a  little  more 
control,  in  our  own  country,  by  government,  over  the  im- 
mense corporations  on  which  railway  privileges  are 
conferrL'd,  would  be  exceedingly  salutary,  —  conducive 
at  once  to  the  interest  and  safety  of  the  citizen,  and 
not  unjust  or  disadvantageous  to  the  corporators.  But 
the  mania  which  possesses  the  governments  of  the  Con-, 
tincnt  to  mingle  themselves  with  every  public  enter- 
prise, and  be  part  and  parcel  of  every  speculation  in 
which  two  or  three  are  gathered  together,  is  one  which 
a  constitutional  system  must  counteract,  if  it  would 
avail  any  thing.  It  often,  in  the  long  run,  works  its 
own  retribution.  The  powers  which  control  every  thing, 
for  their  own  advantage,  are  often  made  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  every  thing,  to  their  sorrow.  The  govern- 
ment is  seen  in  so  many  things,  that  it  is  believed  to  be 
in  all.  When  the  crops  failed  in  France,  the  peasantry 
of  Louis  Philippe  could  with  difficulty  be  persuaded 
that  it  was  not  all  the  fault  of  "  ce  diahle  de  roi  "  .' 
And  the  diahle  de  roi,  poor  fellow !  paid  dearly  for  it 
at  last. 

Although  there  is  a  great  deal  of  disposable  capital 
*in  Spain,  —  much  more  than  is  commonly  believed  in  ' 
other  countrie;5,  —  the  success  of  the  railroad  enter- 
prises in  contemplation  must  depend  in  a  great  degree 
upon  the  readiness  of  foreign  capitalists  to  embark  in 
them.  This,  in  its  turn,  must  depend  upon  their  confi- 
dence in  the  permanency  of  existing  institutions,  and 
in  the  preservation  of  peace.  Capital  cannot  possibly 
be   led  into  channels,  —  no  matter   how  tempting, — 


326  SPAIN. 

which  may,  at  any  moment,  be  diverted  or  be  drained 
by  the  outbreaking  of  revolutions,  or  the  fluctuations 
of  civil  war  and  an  irregular  government.  The  same 
rule,  indeed,  applies  to  domestic  as  well  as  foreign  capi- 
tal, for  the  root  of  all  evil  is  not  often  watered  by  pa- 
triotism, and  Spanish  capitalists  heretofore  have  been 
wise  enough  to  know  the  diiference,  in  the  matter  of 
investment,  between  the  British  and  the  Spanish  per 
cents.  Of  late  years,  however,  things  have  changed 
greatly,  in  this  regard.  Capital  has  begun  to  abandon 
its  former  absenteeism,  and  now  stays,  for  the  most 
part,  at  home,  to  produce  where  it  is  produced.  The 
same  confidence  which  has  caused  this,  has  given  the 
same  direction  to  much  foreign  wealth.  British  stock- 
holders are  largely  interested  in  the  works  already  com- 
pleted, and  many  of  those  projected  have  too  many 
probabilities  of  success  and  of  large  returns,  not  to 
command  a  similar  support.  The  knowledge  of  this 
fact,  —  of  the  prosperity,  the  development,  the  power 
it  will  bring,  —  and  a  conviction  that  peace  and  perma- 
nent institutions,  steadily  administered,  are  necessary  to 
secure  these  blessings,  —  will,  of  equal  necessity,  tend 
to  preserve  that  peace  and  permanence.  Nations,  for 
the  most  part,  are  governed  by  the  convictions  of  the 
mass  of  their  citizens,  —  especially  by  their  convic- 
tions as  to  matters  of  interest ;  and  thus  is  true,  for 
another  reason,  what  was  observed  in  the  opening  of 
this  chapter,  —  that  the  internal  improvement  of  Spain 
is  as  vital  to  her  civilization  and  good  government,  as 
to  her  material  prosperity. 


SPAIN.  327 


XXVII. 


Improvement  in  Agriculture  and  its  Causes.  —  Improved 
Value  of  Land.  —  Territorial  Wealth  and  Produc- 
tion. —  Practical  Farmers.  —  Espartero.  —  Agricul- 
tural Education.  —  Economical  Societies.  —  Agricul- 
tural Bureau  and  its  Action.  —  Irrigation.  —  Geolog- 
ical Chart.  —  Colonization  of  Waste  Land.  —  Irish 
Colonists.  —  Dairy  of  Madrid.  —  Advancement  in  Man- 

rfactures  and   commerce.  — prohibitory   du«ies.  

Exports  and  Imports.  —  Steam  Coasters  and  Coasting 
Trade.  —  Manufactures.  —  Catalan  Monopolies.  — 
Manufacturing  Resources  of  Spain.  —  Modifications 
OF  THE  Tariff.  —  Silk  and  Woollen  Fabrics.  —  Flax, 
Hemp,  and  Iron.  —  National  Arsenals  and  Founderies. 

The  subdivision  of  the  Church  property  in  Spain, 
and  its  passage  into  the  liands  of  tlie  laity,  would  alone 
be  sufficient  to  account  for  the  improvement  in  agri- 
culture, since  the  establishment  of  the  constitutional 
system.  The  immense  tracts  of  land  accumulated  in 
mortmain  were  always  regarded,  by  the  wisest  agricul- 
tural economists  of  the  kingdom,  as  the  chief  cause  of 
the  torpor  formerly  so  prevalent  in  that  important 
branch  of  public  industry.    Though  always  administered 


328  SPAIN. 

considerately,  and  with  becoming  forbearance  towards 
the  tenants,  the  estates  of  the  Church  —  in  addition  to 
the  other  evils  which  their  possession  involved  —  were 
notoriously  mismanaged  as  to  productiveness.  There 
were,  of  course,  exceptions  to  the  rule,  but  poverty  and 
raesedness  surrounded  the  wealthiest  ecclesiastical  en- 
dowments  so  generally,  that  to  say  a  neighborhood  was 
"  clerical,"  {de  clerigos,)  was,  emphatically,  to  apply 
to  it  the  strongest  proverbial  phrase  for  wretchedness 
and  desolation. 

Other  and  most  serious  impediments  to  agricul- 
tural progress  have  been  removed  by  the  abolition  of 
tithes  and  other  ecclesiastical  dues  and  perquisites,  as 
well  as  by  the  suppression  of  the  multiform  prescrip- 
tive imposts  formerly  levied  by  the  state  upon  real 
property,  and  the  substitution  of  a  uniform  system  of 
assessment  and  taxation.  Notwithstanding  the  unequal 
manner  in  which  the  present  tax-laws  occasionally  9p- 
erate  in  their  details,  the  evils  which  result  from  them 
are  purely  administrative,  and  susceptible  of  practical 
remedy ;  but  the  old  system  was  so  vicious  in  all  its 
principles,  and  so  manifestly  partial  and  oppressive, 
that  its  existence  was  altogether  inconsistent  with  the 
possible  prosperity  of  the  landed  interest. 

It  will  not  have  escaped  the  reader,  that  the  internal 
improvements  i-eferred  to  in  the  last  chapter,  as  actu- 
ally completed,  must  be  an  item  of  controlling  impor- 
tance in  all  calculations  of  agricultural  promise.  Those 
in  progress,  also,  or  serious  contemplation,  cannot  fail 
to  give  great  encouragement  to  rural  labor,  and  in- 
creased value  to  real  estate.  In  some  districts,  it  is  a 
familiar  fact,  that  the   wine  of  one  vintage  -has  to  be 


SPAIN.  329 

emptied,  in  waste,  in  order  to  furnish  skins  for  the  wine 
of  the  next,  —  the  difiicuhy  and  cost  of  transportation  to 
market  being  such,  as  utterly  to  preclude  the  producer 
from  attempting  a  more  profitable  disposition  of  it. 
Staples  of  the  most  absolute  and  uniform  necessity  — 
wheat,  for  instance  —  are  at  prices  absurdly  different  in 
different  parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  the  proximity  to  market 
bein"  such  as  to  give  them  their  current  value  in  one 
quarter,  while  in  another  they  are  perhaps  rotting  in 
their  places  of  deposit,  without  the  hope  of  a  demand. 
Until  such  a  state  of  things  shall  have  been  cured,  h 
will  be  useless  to  improve  the  soil,  or  stimulate  pro- 
duction in  the  secluded  districts  ;  and  of  course  every 
circumstance  which  wears  the  promise  of  such  cure 
must  enter  into  the  calculations  of  the  future,  and  avail 
in  them,  according  to  its  probabilities. 

Other  important  pieces  of  legislation,  which  may  not 
bef  numerated  here,  such  as  the  abolition  of  entails, .^c, 
have,  no  doubt,  combined  with  those  just  mentioned,  to 
give  an  impulse  to  agricultural  industry  and  the  public 
good-will  in  its  behalf ;  for  it  is  a  significant  fact,  that, 
notwithstanding  the  immense  amount  of  land  thrown 
into  the  market  by  the  Church  confiscations,  the  value 
of  agricultural  property,  and  of  real  estate  generally, 
has  been  steadily  increasing  throughout  the  greater  part 
of  the  kingdom,  since  the  termination  of  the  civil  war. 
Indeed,  the  Church  property  itself  has  commanded  an 
average  of  nearly  double  the  price  at  which  it  was  offi- 
cially assessed,  according  to  the  standards  of  value  at 
the  time  of  its  seizure.  If  any  reliance  is  to  be  placed 
upon  the  statistical  information  which  IMellado  has  col- 
lected in  his  Guia  del  Foraslero,  the  territorial  wealth 


330  SPAIN. 

of  Spain  was  estimated  in  1849  at  $369,400,000,  being 
nearly  $116,000,000  more  than  it  was  supposed  to 
amount  to  in  1803.  It  is  stated  in  the  same  work,  that 
the  yearly  product  of  the  soil  is  now  nearly  $  3,000,000 
greater  than  at  the  last-mentioned  date,  while  the  quan- 
tity of  land  in  cultivation,  which  then  scarcely  amount- 
ed to  one  ninth  of  the  whole  soil,  has  now  risen  to  more 
than  two  sevenths.  What  scope  there  yet  is  for  the 
wisdom  of  the  government  and  the  industry  and  enter- 
prise of  the  people,  the  last-mentioned  fact  will  suffi- 
ciently show. 

There  is  no  better  sign  of  a  healthy  national  feeling, 
in  regard  to  agriculture,  than  that  many  persons  of  in- 
fluence and  position  have  begun  to  take  a  personal  in- 
terest and  participation  in  the  superintendence *and  cul- 
tivation of  their  farms,  and  the  adoption  of  the  improve- 
ments suggested  by  modern  science.  Of  this  —  a  thing 
until  lately  altogether  unknown  in  Spain  —  the  Ex- 
Regent  Espartero  is  a  most  respectable  illustration. 
He  derived,  from  marriage,  an  excellent  estate  near 
the  venerable  Castilian  city  of  Logroilo,  in  a  fertile 
and  delightful  quarter,  on  the  borders  of  Aragon. 
Having  retired  to  it,  since  his  return  from  England,  he 
has  devoted  his  time  and  attention  almost  exclusively 
to  the  development  of  its  resources,  and  the  application 
of  new  methods  of  cultivation.  These  it  is  his  effort 
to  make  as  general  as  possible  among  his  neighbors, 
and  I  am  informed  that  the  influence  of  his  example 
has  been  materially  beneficial  already.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  he  will  thus  establish  another,  and  a  just, 
though  modest,  claim,  to  the  title  of  public  benefactor. 
To  that  title,  —  where  it  involves  the  outlay  of  private 


SPAIN.  331 

fortune,  without  any  chance  of  remuneration,  with 
usury,  from  the  public  chest,  —  there  are  but  few  pre- 
tendientes,  and  the  Duke  may  probably  flatter  himself 
that  he  has  at  last  reached  one  position,  which  he  may 
retain,  —  as  long  as  he  is  content  with  it,  —  without 
fear  of  jealousy  or  exile. 

The  existing  scheme  of  national  education  makes 
provision  for  the  delivery  of  public  lectures  on  agricul- 
tural science,  and  the  instruction  of  students  in  matters 
connected  with  that  branch  of  industry.  There  are 
other  institutions,  besides,  under  the  care  of  the  various 
Economical  Societies,  in  the  provinces,  which  are,  per- 
haps, still  more  useful.  These  societies,  originating  in 
the  enlightened  views  of  Jovellanos  and  men  like  him, 
have  been  of  incalculable  service  to  the  general  indus- 
try of  the  nation,  since  the  comparative  freedom  of 
later  days  has  given  scope  to  their  investigations  and 
reports.  Many  papers  of  great  ability  have  proceeded 
and  continue  to  proceed  from  them,  and  they  are  con- 
stantly diffusing  information  upon  all  matters  connected 
with  the  material  development  of  the  nation.  There  is 
an  excellent  periodical  conducted,  in  Madrid,  by  the 
society  of  "  Friends  of  the  Country "  {Amigos  del 
Pais),  in  which  the  most  creditable  essays  are  con- 
stantly appearing,  and  the  experience  and  discoveries  of 
more  prosperous  nations  are  applied,  with  great  industry 
and  assiduity,  to  the  removal  of  prejudices  and  the  extir- 
pation of  antiquated  notions  and  methods.  In  some  of 
the  other  cities,  I  am  informed  that  similar  journals  are 
successfully  dedicated  to  the  same  work.  As  an  evi- 
dence that  they  are  not  without  effect,  I  may  mention, 
that  in  Catalonia,  Valencia,- and  Murcia,  where  innova- 


332  SPAIN. 

tion  was,  not  long  ago,  a  sin,  the  use  of  guano  as  a 
manure  has  been  adopted,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
within  the  last  two  years.  I  have  occasion  to  know,  that 
its  application  has  been  so  successful,  and  the  demand 
for  it  has  begun  so  to  increase,  that  Spain  is  now  looked 
to  as  a  growing  and  prospectively  important  market,  by 
those  who  regulate  its  distribution. 

The  interests  of  agriculture,  until  October,  1851, 
were  protected  by  the  same  Department  which  presided 
over  commerce,  education,  and  public  works.  They 
now  depend  upon  the  new  Department  of  Foinento. 
About  $  100,000  were  appropriated  to  the  agricultural 
branch,  by  the  budget  of  1850,  —  over  and  above  the 
expenses  of  the  board  for  the  superintendence  of 
canals  for  irrigation,  —  an  indispensable  part  of  the 
system  of  cultivation,  in  some  of  the  most  fertile 
portions  of  the  kingdom.  While  I  was  in  Spain, 
many  measures  for  the  improvement  of  agriculture, 
in  its  various  branches,  were  adopted  by  the  De- 
partment, of  its  own  motion  and  upon  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  Economical  Societies.  I  remembei'  being 
amused  by  a  royal  order,  with  a  long  preamble,  direct- 
ing the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences,  at  Madrid,  "  sin 
levmitar  mano  "  (without  lifting  hand  from  the  work),  to 
offer  proposals  for  the  best  essay  on  the  causes  of  the 
constant  droughts  in  the  provinces  of  Murcia  and  Alme- 
ria,  together  with  the  means  of  preventing  them,  or 
counteracting  their  effects.  It  was  possible  to  under- 
stand that  the  consequences  of  the  droughts  might,  to 
some  extent,  be  remedied  artificially,  but  as  the  pre- 
amble asserted,  in  round  terms,  that  the  want  of  rain 
was  their  cause,  there   se'emed    no   recourse    for   the 


SPAIN.  333 

Academy,  in  the  matter  of  prevention,  except  to  Profes- 
sor Espy  or  the  astronomer  in  Rasselas.  The  minister, 
however,  seemed  quite  willing  to  get  what  he  could  out 
of  the  weather-makers  for  the  almanacs,  and,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  prize,  offered  to  compensate  liberally  the 
author  of  any  scheme  wliich  might  turn  out  to  be  ef- 
fectual. I  never  was  able  to  ascertain  what  the  result 
of  the  co7icurso  was.  Probably  it  never  had  any. 
Many  of  the  other  movements  of  the  Department  were 
of  an  eminently  practical  character.  New  plans  of 
irrigation  were  attempted.  Premiums  were  offered 
for  successful  essays  on  agricultural  subjects,  and  suc- 
cessful efforts  in  cultivation.  An  appropriation  of 
§7,500  was  made,  in  1850,  towards  the  completion 
of  a  geological  chart  of  the  kingdom,  already  then 
in  progress.  Horses  and  cattle  were  imported,  and 
schemes  devised  for  the  improvement  of  the  native 
breeds  of  domestic  animals.  Inquiries  were  instituted 
into  the  causes  of  the  failure  of  particular  branches  of 
agricultural  production,  once  valuable  but  now  almost 
extinct,  and  plans  were  matured  for  their  restoration. 

It  was  but  lately  that  the  papers  of  Madrid  gave  the 
details  of  an  arrangement,  said  to  have  been  entered 
into  by  the  government,  with  an  association  in  London, 
for  the  establishment  of  colonies  of  Irish  Catholics  on 
some  of  the  waste  lands  belonging  to  the  brown, — 
many  of  which  are  admirably  adapted  to  agricultural 
purposes.  The  capital  of  the  company  was  said  to  be 
£  500,000,  actually  paid  in,  and  the  scheme,  as 
reported,  was  a  very  feasible  one.  There  has  always 
been  a  decided  sympathy  between  the  Irish  and  the 
Spaniards  ;    indeed,  in    many  points,  the   Audalusian 


334  SPAIN. 

and  the  Irish  character,  mental  and  moral,  are  strik- 
ingly alike.  The  movement,  if  successful,  would  be  of 
infinite  importance  to  Spain,  and  would  furnish  the  col- 
onists with  a  congenial  asylum,  and  the  opportunity  of 
acquii'ing  a  comfortable  competence.  It  is,  I  believe, 
a  just  observation,  in  regard  to  the  Irish,  that,  although 
reckless  and  improvident  in  poverty,  and  of  small  re- 
source in  devising  means  to  escape  from  it,  they  are 
industrious  and  energetic  in  prosecuting  what  they  have 
practically  discovered  to  be  profitable,  and  careful,  to 
a  singular  extent,  in  preserving  and  increasing  the  pro- 
ceeds of  successful  labor.  Of  this  their  career  in  the 
United  States  furnishes  constant  illustration.  If  the 
Spanish  government  and  the  company  having  a  colonial 
movement  in  charge  would  be  careful  to  bear  these 
traits  in  mind,  and  to  leave  no  stone  unturned  for  the 
establishment  of  the  proposed  colonies,  from  the  first 
moment,  on  a  substantial  and  permanent  basis,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  such  a  plan  would  now 
have  a  far  different  result,  than  that  which  attended 
the  nuevas  pohlaciones  of  poor,  persecuted  Olavide,  in 
Andalucia. 

The  traveller  visaing  Madrid  will  be  quite  edified  by 
seeing  on  many  signs,  in  some  of  the  principal  streets, 
the  words  "  Casa  de  Vacas  "  (House  of  Cows),  with  an 
accompanying  illustration,  in  oil  colors,  of  a  cow  in  the 
process  of  milking.  Additional  signs  will  inform  him, 
that  "  the  cows  will  be  milked  in  the  purchaser's  pres- 
ence, if  desired,"  so  that  it  will  be  his  own  fault  if  he 
labors  under  the  slightest  uncertainty  as  to  the  ortho- 
doxy of  the  fluid  which  enters  his  household.  He  will 
find,  too,  that  from   these  establishments,  or  from  the 


SPAIN.  335 

agents   of  the   royal    dairy   at   Moncloa   (hard  by  the 
city),  he  can  obtain  fresh  butter  at  his  will,  without  pay- 
ing a  more  than  moderately  exorbitant  price  for  it.     If 
he  desires  to  be  economical,  and  is  not   particular,  he 
can   procure   excellent  salted   butter,  direct  from   the 
Asturias,  at  a  very  reasonable   rate.     As  a  matter  of 
creature  comfort,  he  will  not  find  these  facts  altogeth- 
er unimportant  to  him,  but  this  would    hardly   justify 
referring  to  them  in  a  book,  did   they   not  furnish  an 
illustration  of  the  progress  making  in  a  material  depart- 
ment of  rural  industry.     If  he  should  chance  to  have 
been  in  Spain  before,  or  to  have  recently  sojourned  in 
any  of  the  districts  where  things  continue  to  be  as  they 
were  in  the  beginning,  he  will  rejoice  in  his  deliverance 
from  goat's  milk   and  the   butter    prepared  from  it,  or 
that  insufTerable  compound,  manlcca  de  Flandcs  (Flem- 
ish butter).     One  who  has  been  exposed  to  these  things 
will  deserve  to  be  pardoned,  if,  before  looking  on  the 
promised  land  as  Paradise,\  he  distinguishes  in  regard 
to  the  milk  with  which  it  is  to  flow.     Among  many  of 
the  Spaniards,  however,  even   in  Madrid,  Capricornus 
has  still  a  bright  place  in  the  Milky  Way.     Towards 
sunset,   every   evening,  flocks  of  goats   may   be   seen 
descending  the  streets  which   lead  from  the  gates  into 
the  heart  of  the  city.     They  have  been,  all  day,  upon 
the  arid  hills  about  the  neighborhood,  refreshing  them- 
selves with  what  goals  only  could  construe   into   pas- 
ture ;  but  their  distended  udders  illustrate  the  moral,  of 
the  fulness  which  a  little  may  bring  to  an  easily  con- 
tented spirit.     As  they  go  by  the  houses  of  their  cus- 
tomers, the   maids  run  out  with  their  milk-vessels   in 
search  _of  the  evening  supply.      The  goatherd  seizes 


336  SPAIN. 

the  nearest  of  his  flock,  and  proceeds  to  business  in  the 
middle  of  the  street,  while  the  rest  of  his  company, 
immediately  conscious  of  a  pause  in  the  march,  bivouac 
on  the  stones  till  the  milking  is  over.  A  signal,  which 
they  only  understand,  then  sets  their  bells  in  a  moment 
to  tinkling,  and  the  procession  advances,  at  its  leisure, 
until  the  calling  of  another  halt.  It  is  a  pleasant  little 
rus  in  urbe,  to  look  at,  but,  like  many  other  picturesque 
objects,  its  appearance  is  the  best  of  it. 

As  this  work  in  no  wise  pretends  to  give  detailed 
information  of  any  sort,  but  merely  to  present,  as  gen- 
erally as  may  be,  the  results  of  the  author's  observa- 
tion, and  of  such  knowledge  as  he  could  acquire  from 
sources  which  he  had  reason  to  believe  authentic,  —  it 
will  not  be  expected  that  he  should  dwell,  with  any  par- 
ticularity, upon  those  specific  details  which  would  en- 
able the  reader  to  form  a  precise  idea  for  himself  of 
the  present  state  of  commerce  and  manufactures  in 
Spain.  As  has  before  been  observed,  statistics  do  not 
exist  which  would  furnish  trustworthy  data,  to  any  ex- 
tent, and  accident  avails  quite  as  much  as  industry  in 
the  acquisition,  by  piecemeal,  of  such  facts  as  bear 
importantly  on  these  subjects.  Enough,  however,  may 
be  easily  ascertained,  to  satisfy  an  inquirer,  that  both  of 
the  great  interests  referred  to  have  profited  much  by 
the  impulse  which  the  last  fifteen  years  have  given  to 
the  nation. 

It  is  a  very  illustrative  fact,  —  and  one  which  ought 
to  have  made  the  suicidal  policy  of  prohibitory  duties  as 
obvious  as  light,  —  that,  while  the  exportation  of  Spam 
has  considerably  more  than  doubled  itself  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century,  the  increase  in  imports  has 


SPAIN.  337 

been  but  little  more  than  one  fifth.  Not  only  that, 
but  the  amount  of  exports,  which  in  1803,  or  there- 
abouts, was  not  more  than  half  that  of  the  imports,  is 
now  nearly  equal  to  the  latter,  with  the  increase  which 
has  been  mentioned.*  It  of  course  hardly  requires  to  be 
remarked,  in  view  of  these  statements  and  of  other  facts 
which  have  been  mentioned  in  the  chapters  immediate- 
ly preceding,  that  the  advancement  of  Spain  in  the 
value  of  her  importation  must  depend  upon  the  free- 
dom with  which  her  ports  are  thrown  open  ;  and  her 
exportation  must  be  greatly  governed  by  the  success  of 
the  schemes  devised  for  the  improvement  of  her  agri- 
culture, and  the  perfecting  of  her  facilities  for  internal 
communication.  That  the  spirit  of  the  government,  in 
these  regards,  is  what  it  should  be,  has  been  already 
stated  ;  but  the  number  and  magnitude  of  the  obstacles, 
both  moral  and  physical,  to  be  overcome,  and  the  Span- 
ish proclivity  to  the  poco  a,  poco  (little  by  little)  policy, 
in  all  things,  will  prevent  a  more  than  small  delay  from 
being  at  all  remarkable.  Some  alterations,  too,  will 
be  required  in  the  navigation  laws,  which  arc  now- 
far  from  being  liberal  ;  but  these  will  necessarily  fol- 
low. A  robust  natural  growth  is  very  sure  to  burst 
asunder  almost  any  artificial  bonds.  It  is  only  when 
that  growth  is  hindered  at  its  sources,  that  vigorous  ex- 
pansion is  prevented.  The  weakness  of  the  plant  has 
effect  in  that  case,  not  the  strength  of  the  restraint. 
The   reader,  whose  interest  in  the  facilities  of  trav- 

*  In  1850,  the  imports  were  about  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  an 
increase  of  live  millions  over  1849;  the  exports  were  about 
twenty-four  millions,  an  increase  of  about  half  a  million. 

22 


338  SPAIN. 

elling  may  be  blended  with  his  curiosity  as  to  the  com- 
mercial progress  of  the  Spaniards,  will  be  gratified  to 
know  that  the  whole  coast  is  now  visited,  almost  daily, 
in  its  most  important  points,  by  excellent  steamers,  pro- 
vided with  all  desirable  accommodations  for  passengers. 
There  is  a  line  established  between  Malaga  and  Havre, 
which  touches  regularly  at  Cadiz,  Lisbon,  and  Vigo, 
and  there  is  constant  intercourse,  by  other  lines,  between 
Marseilles,  Barcelona,  Valencia,  Alicante,  Cartagena, 
Almeria,  Malaga,  Gibraltar,  and  Cadiz.  With  Madeira 
and  Cuba  there  is  regular  steam-communication  also, 
though  of  course  not  quite  so  frequent.  This  state  of 
things,  in  itself,  goes  to  show  a  most  material  improve- 
ment in  the  coasting-trade,  which  cannot  fail,  in  its  turn, 
to  develop  the  interests  that  serve  it.  As  has  been  ob- 
served in  another  connection,  it  is  both  an  effect  and  a 
cause,  —  as  significant  in  the  one  point  of  view,  as  it 
must  necessarily  be  important  in  the  other. 

In  the  "  Glimpses  of  Spain  "  I  had  occasion  to  note 
the  improvement  in  manufactures  which  was  making 
itself  conspicuous  in  1847.  It  is  in  my  power  to  add 
but  few  details  to  those  which  were  there  given.  The 
public  documents  furnish  but  little  precise  information, 
and  such  matters  have  not  been  much  inquired  into  by 
writers  of  authority.  A  good  deal  of  exact  and  trust- 
worthy statement  might,  it  is  true,  be  collected  from 
the  Geographical  Dictionary  of  Madoz,  to  which  ref- 
erence has  already  been  made ;  but,  from  the  nature 
of  that  work,  its  details  are  spread  over  so  wide  a  sur- 
face, as  to  make  the  task  of  grouping  them  almost 
endless. 

The   Catalan   cotton-manufacturers   were   besieging 


SPAIN.  339 

the  Cortes,  in  1819  -  50,  with  memorials  and  remon- 
strances of  a  most  doleful  character,  in  which  it  was 
set  forth  that  they  had  been  compelled  to  close  many 
of  their  factories,  and  had  been  brought,  generally,  to 
the  brink  of  ruin,  by  the  alteration  of  the  tariflT  on  im- 
ports. I  had  information  from  a  source  on  which  I 
could  rely,  that  tlie  closing  of  the  few  factories  in  ques- 
tion was  a  dramatic  performance  for  the  benefit  of  the 
monopolists  engaged  in  it,  and  that  the  looms  were 
straightway  set  in  motion  again,  when  the  scheme  was 
found  ineirectual  with  the  legislature.  As  the  genuine 
manufactures  of  many  of  the  Catalan  establishments 
are  really  not  worth  protecting,  under  any  system  of 
political  economy,  and  as  a  large  quantity  of  the  wares 
which  they  sell  as  their  own  are  manufactured  in  Eng- 
land, and  smuggled  into  Barcelona,  with  the  names  of 
the  ostensible  makers  already  on  the  bales,  it  would 
be  little  short  of  a  blessing  to  the  legitimate  production 
of  Spain,  if  such  of  them  were  closed  never  to  be 
opened.  The  large  capital  which  the  Catalans  have 
acquired,  under  the  restrictive  system  of  so  many 
years,  gives  them,  in  a  great  degree,  the  command  of 
the  home  market;  enabling  them  to  undersell  —  and 
to  smuggle  ad  libitum  for  the  purpose  of  underselling 
—  their  more  honest  and  less  wealthy  competitors. 
Many  of  these  last,  however,  have  begun  to  thrive, 
notwithstanding,  under  the  auspices  of  the  modified 
tariff,  —  restrictive  as  it  still  is;  and  all  that  any  of 
them  can  require  to  insure  success,  is  sufficient  capital 
to  sustain  them  against  the  first  onslaught  of  the  mo- 
nopolists. 

There  is,  in  fact,  no  reason  whatever,  in  the  nature 


340  SPAIN. 

of  things,  why  domestic  manufactures  should  not  suc- 
ceed  in    Spain.     Water-power  may  be   readily  com- 
manded, in  advantageous  locations.     Coal  is  abundant, 
for  all  possible  applications  of  steam.     Iron  is  excellent 
and  cheap,  for   every   need   of  the  workshop.     Labor 
can  be  had  upon  the  most   moderate   terms,  and   the 
cost  of  subsistence  is  so  trifhng,  that  the  operative  may 
thrive  and  be  happy   on  the  limited  fruits  of  his   toil. 
Ingenuity  and  industry  are  as  accessible  as  elsewhere, 
and  sobriety  and  frugality  are  pervading  characteristics 
of  the  people.    No  effort,  made  with  ordinary  prudence 
and  backed  by  sufficient  means,  has  yet  failed  in  turning 
these  natural  advantages  to  account.     Should  the  tariff 
undergo  a  thorough  modification, — as  sooner  or  later 
it  must,  —  protective  duties,  of  a  moderate  character, 
will  probably  be  necessary,  for  a  while,  to  enable  the 
new  establishments   to  take  root ;    but    legislative   aid 
will  not  be  long  desirable.     The  Catalans  ought- to  be 
ready  to  encounter  foreign  competition  at  once  ;  for  if, 
with  their  capital,  experience,  and  energy,  they  are  not 
able  to  protect  themselves,  after  so  many  years  of  re- 
stricted importation,  manufacturing  industry  must  be  an 
artificial  thing  with  them,  and  there  is  no  reason  why 
the  rest  of  the  country  should  be  taxed  to  encourage 
or  maintain  it.     At  all  events,   the  duties   which  will 
be  proper  to   develop    manufacturing  production — in 
these  parts  of  the  kingdom  where  it  does  not  exist,  but 
in  which  nature  and  circumstances  indicate  the  policy 
of  its  establishment —  will  be  all  that  the  Catalans  can 
ask,  to  enable  them  to  hold  their  own.     It  is  more  than 
likely  that  they  will  avail  themselves  of  any  protection, 
to  crush  their  rivals  at  home  ;  but  Spanish  taxation  has 


SPAIN.  311 

interiiul  facilities,  wliicli  may  meet  even  tliis  difTiculty, 
and  though  they  should  not,  the  new  establishments 
must  be  content  to  pay  tlie  price,  which  one  need  not 
be  a  manufacturer  to  know  that  all  experience  in  this 
world  costs. 

Of  late  years  there  has  been  a  considerable  effort  to 
extend  and  improve  the  production  and  manufacture  of 
silk,  and  the  result  has  been  ver\'  favorable.  The  silk- 
worm, formerly  confined,  in  a  great  degree,  to  Valencia 
and  Murcia,  is  now  an  article  of  material  importance 
in  the  wealth  of  the  two  Castiles,  Rioja,  and  Aragon. 
The  silk  fabrics  of  Talavera,  Valencia,  and  Barcelona 
are,  many  of  them,  aihnirably  wrought,  and  are  sold  at 
rates  which  appear  very  moderate.  1  had  particular  oc- 
casion to  note  the  cheapness  of  the  damasks  which  are 
sold  in  Madrid  from  the  native  looms.  It  is  not  easy  to 
imagine  any  thing  more  magnificent,  of  their  kind. 
The  woollen  cloths,  too,  of  home  manufacture,  are,  some 
of  them,  very  admirable,  and  the  coarser  kinds  supply, 
I  believe,  a  considerable  part  of  the  national  demand. 
In  cheapness,  I  have  never  seen  them  surpassed.  The 
finer  qualities  do  not  bear  so  favorable  a  comparison 
with  the  foreign  article  ;  but  those  who  were  familiar 
with  the  subject  informed  me,  that  their  recent  im- 
provement had  been  very  decided.  Many  laudable 
efforts  have  been  made  to  render  the  supply  of  wool 
more  abundant,  and  to  improve  its  quality,  and  there 
has  been  a  considerable  importation  of  foreign  sJieep, 
with  a  view  to  crossing  on  the  native  breeds.  The 
sheep-rearing  interest  is  so  very  large  in  Spain,  that  any 
material  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the  wool  must 
add  greatly  to  the  national  wealth,  as   well   as  to  the 


342  SPAIN. 

importance  of  the  woollen  manufacture  andits  ability  to 
encounter  foreign  competition. 

In  the  general  movement  towards  an  increased  and 
more  valuable  production  of  the  raw  material  for  man- 
ufacture, the  flax  of  Leon  and  Galicia  and  the  hemp  of 
Granada  have  not  been  forgotten.  But  the  article,  in 
which  the  most  decided  and  important  progress  has 
been  made,  is  the  great  staple,  iron.  In  1832,  the  iron- 
manufacture  of  Spain  was  at  so  low  an  ebb,  that  it  was 
necessary  to  import  from  England  the  large  lamp-posts 
of  cast  metal,  which  adorn  the  Plaza  de  Armas  of  the 
Palace.  They  bear  the  London  mark,  and  tell  their  own 
story.  A  luxury,  for  the  in-doors  enjoyment  or  per- 
sonal ostentation  of  the  monarch,  would,  of  course,  have 
been  imported  from  any  quarter,  without  regard  to  ap- 
pearances. But  a  monument  of  national  dependence 
upon  foreign  industry  would  hardly  have  been  erected 
upon  such  a  spot,  had  there  been  a  possibility  of 'avoid- 
ing it  by  any  domestic  recourse.  In  1850  the  state  of 
things  had  so  far  changed,  that  there  were  in  the  king- 
dom twenty-five  founderies,  eight  furnaces  of  the  first 
class,  with  founderies  attached,  and  twenty-five  iron- 
factories,  all  prosperously  and  constantly  occupied. 
The  specimens  of  work  from  these  establishments, 
which  are  to  be  seen  in  the  capital  and  the  chief  cities 
of  the  provinces,  are  such  as  to  render  the  independence 
and  prospective  success  of  the  nation  in  this  particular 
no  longer  matters  of  question.  In  the  beginning  of 
1850  the  Marquis  of  Molins,  then  Minister  of  Marine 
Affairs,  upon  the  petition  of  the  iron-manufacturers, 
directed  inquiries  to  be  made,  by  a  competent  board, 
into  the  quality  of  the  native  iron,  and  the  extent  to 


SPAIN.  343 

which  the  home  manufacture  might  he  reUcd  on  for  the 
purposes  of  naval  construction.  The  result  was  so 
satisfactory,  that  in  March  of  tlic  same  year  a  royal 
order  was  issued  from  tlie  Department,  directing  all 
future  contracts  to  be  made  with  the  domestic  establish- 
ments. This,  indeed,  had  been  the  case,  since  1N45,  at 
the  arsenal  of  Ferrol,  which  had  been  supplied  alto- 
gether from  the  iron-works  of  Biscay.  The  govern- 
ment, however,  had  determined,  for  the  future,  to  be 
chiefly  its  own  purveyor,  and  national  founderiesat  Fer- 
rol and  Trubia,  constructed  without  regard  to  expense, 
were  about  to  go  into  operation,  when  the  royal  order 
was  published. 


344  SPAIN. 


xxviir. 


Fine  Arts.  —  Galleries.  —  The  Natioxal  Museum  and 
ITS  Treasures.  —  Academy  of  SUn  Fernando.  —  Mar- 
shal    SOULT.   —  MURILLO.   —  ARCHITECTURE.   PuBLIC 

Edifices.  —  Domestic  Archi'i*:cture.  —  The  Escorial. 
—  Fountains  of  Madrid.  —  Bronze  Equestrian  Stat- 
ues.—  Spanish  Academy. — Academy  of  History. — 
National  Library.  —  The  Armory.  —  Bull-Fights  of 
1850.  —  Monies,  his  Exploits,  Death,  and  Stort. 

The  state  of  the  fine  arts  in  Spain,  at  this  time,  is 
not  such  as  to  deserve  particular  consideration.  Sculp- 
ture has  hardly  any  votaries, — none,  certainly,  of  note, 
—  and,  with  a  few  exceptions,  painting  seems  to  lie 
under  the  same  ban.  The  Royal  Academy  of  San 
Fernando,  intended  to  be  the  nurse,  has  proven  —  as 
academies  will  sometimes  prove  —  to  be  but  the  step- 
mother of  art ;  and  the  pictures  of  the  present  day,  which 
hang  upon  its  walls,  are,  for  the  most  part,  as  bad  as  if 
they  had  been  made  so  to  order.  The  younger  Ma- 
drazo  is  unquestionably  a  man  of  talent,  and  he  and  a 
few  of  his  contemporaries  are  doing  what  they  can  to 
elevate  the  national  standard  ;  but  there  is,  nevertheless, 
no  distinctive  Spanish  school  now  in  existence,  and  no 


SPAIN.  315 

art  in  any  degroo  worthy  even  the  decadence  of  a  peo- 
ple, whose  earlier  masters  stood  so  near  the  summit. 

Tliere  are  several  private  collections  in  Madrid,  which 
well  deserve  tlie  traveller's  attention  ;  but  the  National 
Museum,  on  the  Prado,  is  such  a  world  of  art,  —  so  full 
of  the  most  remarkable  monuments  of  genius,  —  that, 
except  for  the  gratification  of  a  casual  curiosity,  or  for 
the  purpose  of  visiting  the  few  great  works  at  the 
Academy  or  the  Trinidad,  no  man  of  taste  will  care  to 
carry  his  researches  beyond  it.  Some  writers  com- 
plain of  the  Museo,  as  imperfect  in  some  of  its  depart- 
ments, and  deficient  in  the  works  of  particular  epochs 
and  painters,  Spanish  as  well  as  Italian.  Yet  the  collec- 
tion is  so  various,  and  its  wealth  is  so  prodigal,  —  the 
gems  of  the  masters  and  the  periods  represented  are 
so  many  and  so  precious,  —  that  it  is  little  short  of  wan- 
tonness, to  be  dissatisfied  because  the  measure  of  per- 
fection, in  all  things,  is  not  filled  to  overflowing.  A 
collection  which  (according  \6  Ford's  enumeration)  can 
boast  of  ten  Raphaels,  forty-three  Titians,  sixty-two  by 
Rubens,  sixty-two  by  Velazquez,  forty-six  by  Murillo, 
fifty-two  by  Teniers,  twenty-two  by  Vandyke,  ten  by 
VVouvermans,  ten  by  Claude  Lorraine,  and  more  than 
two  thousand  pictures  in  all,  —  ranging  through  the 
most  diversified  and  most  exalted  walks  of  excellence, 
—  may  well  deserve  the  title,  so  often  conferred  on  it, 
of  "  the  finest  gallery  in  the  world."  *  It  contains  the 
choicest  spoil  of  church  and  convent,  —  the  treasures  of 


*  See  Vol.  II.  of  Ford's  Hand-Book,  p.  744,  wliere  a  great 
deal  of  interesting  critical  and  liistorical  matter  may  be  found,  in 
the  author's  peculiar  style. 


346  SPAIN. 

the  Escorial  and  the  Palace.  Its  riches  were  gathered 
from  Italy,  when  Spain  ruled  at  Naples,  and  from  the 
Low  Countries,  when  she  had  her  viceroys  there.  Ti- 
tian and  Rubens  dwelt  at  Madrid  to  paint  for  it ;  Ve- 
lazquez searched  the  repositories  of  Italian  art,  to  fill 
it,  and  left  to  it  the  priceless  endowment  of  his  own 
most  perfect  works.  All  that  royal  munificence  could 
do,  was  done  lavishly,  —  at  times,  too,  when  Spanish 
kings  had  taste,  with  wealth  and  power  to  serve  it. 

The  Academy  of  San  Fernando  has  fallen  heir  to  a 
few  very  fine  pictures,  among  which  is  the  celebrated 
St.  Isabel  of  Hungary,  painted  by  Murillo  for  the  Hos- 
pital of  La  Caridad,  at  Seville,  and  carried  off"  by  Mar- 
shal Soult,  with  the  rest  of  his  precious  booty.  On  its 
return  from  Paris,  after  the  visit  of  the  Allies,  the  St. 
Isabel,  with  two  other  masterpieces  of  the  great  Anda- 
lusian,  was  arrested  at  Madrid,  by  the  intrigues  of  the 
Academicians,  whose  influence  with  Ferdinand  was 
sufficient  to  prevent  the  restoration  of  all  three  to  the 
sanctuaries  from  which  they  had  been  stolen.  It  was 
by  consent  of  his  Majesty,  I  believe,  that  the  free- 
booting  Marshal  was  allowed  to  retain  his  individual 
share  of  the  spoil,  and  thus  occurred  the  singular  spec- 
tacle, lately  exhibited  in  Paris,  of  the  Queen  of  Spain 
bidding,  at  an  auction,  for  the  rescue  of  works  of  art 
of  which  her  country  had  been  barbarously  plundered. 

The  complete  and  excellent  treatises  of  Head  and 
Stirling  have  made  the  works  of  the  Spanish  painters 
so  well  known  to  the  art-loving  world,  that  it  would  be 
idle  to  comment  at  length  upon  the  collections  at  Ma- 
drid, even  if  my  familiarity  with  the  subject,  or  the 
scope  of  this  volume,  would  render  such  details  appro- 


SPAIN.  317 

priatc.  T  may  observe,  however,  that  an  admirer  of 
Miirillo  will  be  more  than  ever  satisfied  —  after  seeing 
lijs  pictures  at  the  capital  —  of  the  entire  truth  of  the 
remark,  tluit  this  great  master  can  only  be  fully  under- 
stood, and  appreciated  fairly,  at  Seville,  where  he  won 
his  fame.  It  is  there  that  by  far  the  most  exquisite  of 
his  productions  still  arc,  —  the  most  interesting  subjects, 
most  ably  treated  ;  and  it  is  there  only  that  he  can  be 
seen,  in  his  own  colors,  unspoiled  and  unpatched  by 
Vandal  or  Academician.  In  this  judgment,  almost 
every  one  who  has  visited  Seville  will  probably  concur. 
The  further  conclusion  of  my  own,  with  which  I  ven- 
ture to  accompany  it,  will  probably  find  fewer  support- 
ers, though  it  has  the  countenance  of  some  whose  crit- 
icism does  not  lack  authority.  It  is,  that,  after  using 
the  opportunity  presented  by  the  Miiseo,  of  contrasting 
Murillo's  paintings  directly  with  the  masterpieces  of 
the  greatest  artists,  —  with  a  vivid  remembrance,  too,  of 
the  chefs-cfccuvre  of  the  Italian  galleries,  —  I  cannot  find 
it  in  me  to  place  the  Spaniard,  in  point  of  genius,  below 
the  loftiest  of  them  all,  Raphael  not  excepted.  In  the 
incarnation  of  beauty,  ideal  or  merely  human, —  in  a 
sublimity  and  dignity  which  borrow  nothing  from  the 
Grecian  chisel,  yet  have  the  purity  and  grace,  without 
the  coldness,  of  its  marble,  —  in  simplicity  and  tender- 
ness of  conception,  —  in  a  magic  of  coloring,  where 
tints  blend  imperceptibly  and  warmly,  as  they  melt  into 
each  other  in  the  clouds  and  sky,  —  I  confess  that  my 
uneducated  taste  gives  him  no  equal.  There  are,  no 
doubt,  defects  which  I  cannot  see,  and  details  which 
others  may  surpass  ;  but  in  the  perfect  expression  of  a 
poet's  highest  thought,  his  canvas  is,  to  me,  unrivalled. 


348  SPAIN. 

With  the  exception  of  the  Royal  Palace,  which  is 
certainly  one  of  the  most  splendid  structures  in  Europe, 
Madrid  has  little  to  boast  in  the  higher  walks  of  ar- 
chitecture. There  is  not  a  church  in  the  whole  city, 
with  the  exception  of  that  of  the  Convent  of  Salesas 
Reales,  which  deserves  to  be  mentioned  as  an  effective 
work  of  art,  in  a  European  sense,  although  to  Cis- 
atlantic eyes  many  of  them  would  seem  very  impos- 
ing, both  in  style  and  dimensions.  The  Custom-House, 
on  the  street  of  Alcala,  and  the  General  Post-Office,  in 
the  Puerta  del  Sol,  are  large  and  stately  buildings,  but 
both  of  them,  and  particularly  the  latter,  derive  their 
principal  effect  from  their  size.  Substantially,  the  same 
thing  has  already  been  said  of  the  new  Palace  of  the 
Deputies,  and  it  may  with  equal  propriety  be  repeated 
in  regard  to  the  massive  edifice,  on  the  street  of  Ato- 
cha,  which  is  dedicated  to  the  Facultad  Medica.  On 
the  roof  of  the  portico  of  this  latter  building  sits  a 
statue  of  yEsculapius,  reminding  one  exceedingly,  by 
its  position  and  ponderosity,  of  the  effigy  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria, mounted,  in  like  case,  upon  the  Royal  Institution 
at  Edinburgh.  The  crushing  effect  of  both  brought 
forcibly  to  my  recollection  the  exclamation  of  John 
Kemble  to  the  tyro  in  Hamlet,  who  did  not  stare  suffi- 
ciently aghast  at  the  awful  words  of  the  ghost  : 

'  "But  look!  amazement  on  thy  mother  sits  ! " 

"  Imagine  me.  Sir,"  cried  the  enraged  tragedian,  "  im- 
agine me,  sitting  on  your  mother  !  " 

I  fortunately  had  no  famiUarlty  with  the  Medical 
Faculty  of  Madrid,  which  gives  me  any  right  to  know, 
from  experience,  what  iEsculapius  has  done  for  them 


SPAIN.  319 

to  show  his  frratitudc.  The  medical  school  ought  to 
be  a  good  one,  and  the  number  of  physicians  who 
have  had  ail  the  advantages  of  Parisian  education  must 
certainly  have  infused  into  the  Peninsular  system  the 
spirit  of  modern  science.  1  had  occasion,  however,  to 
obtain  some  information  in  regard  to  the  death  of  a 
grandee  of  Spain,  which  took  place  but  a  little  while 
before,  and  could  not  help  being  struck  with  the  extra- 
ordinary circiinistancrs  unrlcr  which  he  was  reported 
to  have  departed  this  life.  "  FalleciS,''^  says  the  parish 
certificate,  "  de  resullns  de  un  alaque  cerebral,  con  as- 
Jixia  del  corazon,  procedente  de  un  espasmo  general, 
segun  certijicacion  de  dos  facultalivos.''''  —  "  He  died 
from  the  result  of  a  cerebral  attack,  with  asphixia  of 
the  heart,  proceeding  from  a  general  spasm,  according 
to  the  certificate  of  two  physicians."  It  is  the  duty  of 
every  man  to  make  what  humble  contributions  he  may 
to  the  cause  of  science, — and  I  report  the  case  for  the 
benefit  of  the  profession  and  the  good  of  humanity  and 
diagnosis. 

Within  a  few  years  past  (to  return  to  our  subject) 
the  domestic  architecture  of  Madrid  has  wonderfully 
improved,  and  some-  of  the  more  modern  palaces,  as 
well  as  private  buildings  of  less  pretension,  are  in  ex- 
cellent taste  and  of  imposing  appearance.  I  have  al- 
ready alluded  to  the  stately  beauty  of  the  street  of  Alca- 
lii,  with  the  splendid  triumphal  arch  to  which  it  leads ; 
and  there  are  other  of  the  public  ways  which  would 
do  no  discredit  to  any  capital.  The  taste  for  buildings 
of  immense  dimensions  has  taken  complete  possession 
of  the  Madrilenos,  so  that  the  number  of  houses  is 
actually  smaller  than  it  was  some  years  ago,  although 


350  SPAIN, 

the  population  has  increased  considerably,  and  house- 
hold facilities  and  comforts  have  multiplied,  in  a  pro- 
portion  still  larger.  ■  The  sites   of  many  of  the  sup- 
pressed monasteries  have  ^been  used  for  the  erection 
of  dwellings,   and  the   peculiar  taste   referred   to  has 
been  illustrated,  remarkably,  in  the  magnitude  of  some 
of  these.     The  Casa  de  Cordero,   or  del  Margato,  as 
it  is  sometimes  called,  is  probably  the  most  extensive  of 
these  new  structures.     It  occupies  the  grounds  of  the 
ancient  convent  of  San  Felipe  el  Real,  a  large  square 
on  the  Calle  Mayor,  near  the  Puerta  del  Sol,  and  is  dis- 
tributed into  an  almost  incredible  number  of  suites  and 
establishments,  public  and  private.    Its  fronts  of  dressed 
stone  are  in  admirable  taste,  and  all  its  appliances  are 
of  the   most  complete   and  highly  finished  character. 
Some   idea   may   be   formed  of  its   value  and   extent, 
from   the  fact  that  its  daily  rent  exceeds  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.     The  owner,  Sr.  Cordero,  belongs  to 
the  singular  tribe  of  Maragatos,  in  Leon,  and  is  one  of 
the  vi^ealthiest  and  most  enterprising  capitalists  of  Ma- 
drid.    He  was  a  Deputy  to  the  Cortes  and  an  ardent 
Progresista.     His  hand  is  in  every  enterprise  of  pub- 
lic  benefit,   and   no  one,  perhaps,  has   done   more   to 
awaken  and  sustain  the  public  spirit,  of  which  Madrid 
is  reaping  the  advantages  so  signally. 

While  on  the  subject  of  architecture,  I  may  express 
the  disappointment,  in  many  particulars,  which  was  the 
result  of  my  visit  to  the  Escorial.  That  famous  edifice 
is  certainly  of  extraordinary  dimensions,  but  the  effect 
of  its  size  is  almost  entirely  lost,  as  you  approach,  in 
the  dwarfing  contrast  of  the  mountains  which  lie  behind 
it ;   and  although,  as  you  wander  through  the   innu- 


SPAIN.  351 

merable  courts  and  corridors  and  quadrangles,  a  wea- 
rying sense  of  vastncss  creeps  over  you,  it  is  not  one 
which  is  at  all  coupled  with  an  impression  of  archi- 
tectural grandeur.  Indeed,  the  building  was  never  in- 
tended as  a  triumph  of  ornamental  art,  hut  merely  for 
the  purposes  of  a  monastery,  and  with  the  necessary 
adaptations.  It  is,  therefore,  no  discredit  to  the  original 
architect,  Juan  de  Toledo,  that  he  made  it  what  it  is,  — 
nor  indeed  to  Philip  the  Second,  that  he  did  not  cause 
it  to  be  made  otherwise.  The  gridiron,  it  is  true,  might 
have  been  left  out  of  the  plan,  but  it  may  be  doubted 
whether — adopted  as  latitudinarily  as  it  was — it  did 
not  furnish  an  excellent  mode  of  arrangement,  for  a 
building  which  required  long  passages,  small  apart- 
ments, and  many  and  small  windows.  It  is  the  trav- 
eller's mistake,  if  he  looks  for  a  palace,  where  nothing 
was  desiiined  but  a  shelter  for  cenobites. 

The  disappointment  caused  by  the  general  aspect 
of  the  monastery  was  lost  in  a  feeling  of  the  deepest 
admiration,  when  we  entered  the  great  chapel  in  its 
centre,  —  the  most  impressive  adaptation  I  have  ever 
seen  of  classic  architecture  to  the  purposes  of  Chris- 
tian worship.  It  is,  throughout,  of  dark  gray  granite, 
of  the  simplest  and  severest  Doric.  Its  dimensions  are 
colossal,  as  those  of  a  cathedral  ;  the  piers  beneath  its 
lofty  cupola  as  massive,  in  proportion,  as  those  which 
uphold  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's.  Every  detail  is  in  sol- 
emn keeping  with  the  austerity  of  the  architect's  con- 
ception, —  the  very  light,  even  at  midday,  seeming  to 
steal  with  shadowy  awe,  as  into  the  presence  of  some- 
thing holy.  It  was  towards  sunset  of  a  stormy  even- 
ing, that  we  were  conducted,  through  long    galleries 


352 '  ■  SPAIN. 

and  dreamy  cloisters,  into  the  front  of  the  great  choir. 
But  for  a  distant,  half-heard  chanting,  we  should  have 
thouaht  ourselves  alone  with  the  twilight.  There  was 
no  painted  glass,  —  no  fretwork, —  no  quaint  device 
or' cunning  tracery,  —  to  fill  the  waning  light  with 
shapes  of  beauty  or  of  fantasy.  The  sublimity  about 
us  was  that  of  darkness  and  silence,  in  a  temple  meet 
for  them. 

In  singular  contrast  with  the  simplicity  of  the  chapel 
is  the  Panteon,  —  the  burial-place  of  the  Spanish  kin^s, 
far  down  beneath  the  high  altar,  —  a  work  of  later 
days,  the  florid  elegance  of  which  could  'never  have 
been  tolerated,  in  such  a  connection,  by  the  chastened 
taste  of  Herrera  or  his  master.  Every  thing  that  is 
Torgeous,  in  bronze  and  gilding  and  jasper,  is  lavished 
upon  the  charnel-house.  The  walls  of  the  descent  to 
it  throw  back,  like  mirrors,  the  glimmering  of  the  tapers 
that  you  hold,  and  you  are  warned  to  be  careful,  lest 
the  polish  of  the  marble  that  you  tread,  should  afford 
no  security  to  your  footsteps.  Save  the  reverential 
aspect  and  bent  body  of  the  old  monk  who  is  your 
guide,  there  is  nothing  in  the  sepulchre  or  its  appoint- 
ments to  wake  one  solemn  thought  of  death,  or  lift 
the  mind  towards  the  uncertainty  b.eyond  it.  Were  it 
not  for  the  grandeur  of  the   temple  which  is  above  it, 

the  fame  of  some  few  of  the  monarchs  who  occupy 

its  urns,  —  and  the  dignity  and  awe  with  which  the 
genius  of  Quintana  has  associated  it,  in  one  of  the  no- 
blest efforts  of  the  Spanish  Muse,  —  the  Panteon  would 
be  but  a  tinselled  chamber,  without  taste,  appropriate- 
ness, or  moral. 

In  speaking  of  the  works  of  art  which  adorn  Madrid, 


SPAIN.  353 

the  attention  of  the  reader  may  very  well  bo  called  to 
the  sculpture  of  the  fountains  in  the  Prado,  which, 
though  not  of  the  highest  order,  have,  nevertheless,  a 
great  deal  of  merit,  both  in  composition  and  execu- 
tion. The  size  of  the  groups  and  figures  is  so  colossal, 
that  they  form  conspicuous  features  in  the  evening 
view,  when  the  great  walk  of  the  capital  is  crowded 
with  its  cheerful  thousands ;  and  there  is  beauty,  as 
well  as  freshness,  in  the  glancing  of  the  waters  which 
th&y  scatter  so  copiously  round  them.  The  group  of 
Cybele  is  perhaps  the  most  admired,  but  I  was  partic- 
ularly struck  with  the  great  fountain  of  Neptune,  in 
the  winter  season,  when  the  breezes  blew  chill  from 
the  Guadarrama  Mountains.  There  was  infinite  spirit 
and  effect  in  the  gallant  style  in  which  the  sea-god's 
horses  seemed  to  be  flinging  the  icicles  from  their 
manes  and  nostrils. 

Of  the  bronzes  in  the  public  places  it  may,  I  think, 
with  justice  be  said,  that  Madrid  can  furnish  one  of  the 
best  and  one  of  the  worst  equestrian  statues  in  the 
world.  The  latter  is  the  efhgy  of  Philip  the  Third,  in 
the  wide  old  Plaza  Mayor  which  was  the  work  of  his 
reign.  It  seems  scarcely  possible  that  the  sculptor 
could  ever  have  seen  a  horse,  at  all  events  as  the  ani- 
mal exists  at  present.  The  monarch's  steed  is  absurd- 
ly swollen,  and  his  action,  in  the  sort  of  amble  to  which 
he  is  condemned,  is  ingeniously  unnatural  and  clumsy. 
The  whole  work  would  suggest  the  idea  of  Bacchus 
astride  a  barrel,  but  that  the  attitude  of  the  rosy  god 
has  generally  a  graceful  abandon,  of  which  the  awk- 
ward and  unknightly  seat  of  the  king  bears  not  the 
slichtest  trace.     Yet  the   statue  was   modelled,  horse 

23 


354  SPAIN. 

and   man,  by  John   of  Bologna,  who  certainly   knew 
better,  and  was  finished  by  Pietro  Tacca,  the  author  of 
the  adoiirable  work  with  which  I  am  about  to  contrast  it. 
The  statue  of  Philip  the  Fourth,  formerly  in  the  Re- 
tiro  gardens,  and  now  in  the  Plaza  de  Oriente,  is  quite 
another  affair  ;  but  Tacca  was  aided,  in  this  task,  by  a 
drawing  from  the  hand  of  Velazquez,  still  extant,  and 
there  breathe,  throughout  the  whole  production,  the  fire 
and  spirit,  which  have  made  the  equestrian  portraits  of 
that  master  perhaps   the  finest  in  the  world.     The  ajtti- 
tude  of  the  horse  is  rendered  somewhat  artificial,  by  its 
conformity  with  the  rules  of  the  manhge ;  but  the  nostrils 
are  distended,  the  fore  feet  beat  the  air,  and  even  the 
hind  feet,  on  which  the  whole  weight  rests,  appear  to 
spurn  the  earth.     The  seat  of  the  rider  is  matchless,  — 
light,  graceful,  and  yet  firm  as  a  centaur's.     The  touch 
of  the  bridle-hand  is  as  delicate  as  the  best  training  for 
the  lists  could  make  it,  and  the  lace-work  of  the  sash 
seems  floating  from  the  armor  like  gossamer  upon  the 
wind.     I  am  induced  particularly  to  refer  to  this  work, 
not  only  because  it  is,  beyond  dispute,  a  masterpiece, 
but  because  a  statement  has  recently  been  going  the 
rounds  of  the  American  press,  in  which  a  projected  cast, 
by  an  ingenious  native  artist,  is  spoken  of  as  the  only 
attempt  to  inake  an  equestrian  statue,  depending  alto- 
gether for  support  on  the  hind  quarters  of  the  horse. 
Philip  the   Fourth,  having    perhaps   the   dread   of  his 
predecessor's  effigy  before  him,  insisted  that  his  char- 
ger should  be  cast  as  in  the  gallop,  and  availed  himself 
of  the  influence  of  Christina  of  Lorraine,  then  Grand 
Duchess  of  Tuscany,  to  secure  the  services  of  Tacca 
for  that  purpose.     It  was   not   without  some   remon- 


SPAIN.  355 

strancc  on  the  part  of  tlic  sculptor,  tliat  the  will  of  the 
king  had  its  way.  A  full  account  is  given,  by  Punz, 
of  the  mode  in  which  the  difficulties  of  the  subject  were 
overcome  ;  and  an  artist  of  the  present  day  would  doubt- 
less find  matter  in  it  made  worthy  his  consideration 
by  tlie  triumphant  success  of  the  Florentine  master. 
The  weight  of  the  statue  is  eighteen  thousand  pounds, 
and  the  tradition  is,  that  the  sculptor  was  aided  in  his 
distribution  of  the  mass  by  the  suggestions  of  Galileo, 
hi^  contemporary  and  friend. 

If  it  were  any  part  of  my  intention  to  give  a  narrative 
or  descriptive  character  to  this  little  volume,  there  are 
many  interesting  public  institutions  in  Madrid  to  which 
I  might  profitably  direct  the  reader's  attention.     They 
will  all  be  found  mentioned  in  the  guide-books,  and  a 
more  particular  reference  to  them  would  be  foreign  to 
my  present  purpose.     Those,  however,  who  are  inter- 
ested  in  the  purity  and   preservation   of  the  Spanish 
language,  will  be  pleased  to  know  that  the  Academia 
Espahola  still  continues  its  labors,  and  that  they  are 
about  to  take  a  more  profitable  shape  than  of  late,  in 
the  production  of  a  new  and  complete  grammar  and 
dictionary.     The  latter  is  not  to  be  merely  the  republi- 
cation, which  has  periodically  appeared  for  some  years 
past,  but  a  thorough  and  copious  work,  such  as  signal- 
ized the  learning  of  the  Academy  in  its  earlier  history. 
Both  the  grammar  and  dictionary  are  imperatively  called 
for,  by  the  variations  in  orthography,  syntax,  and  the 
vocabulary  itself,  which  the  last  iew  years  have  intro- 
duced into  the  works  of  even  the  most  approved  writers. 
The  Academy  has  many  members  peculiarly  qualified 
for  such  tasks,  and  the  result  of  its  labors  may  there- 
fore be  awaited  with  interest. 


356  SPAIN. 

The  Academy  of  History,  to  the  sessions  of  which 
the  unmerited  honor  of  a  corresponding  membership 
gave  me  admission,  was  occupied,  as  diligently  as  its 
moderate  means  would  allow,  in  the  publication  of  his- 
torical manuscripts,  —  treasures  of  which  yet  lie,  un- 
developed, on  its  shelves.  Some  of  the  unpublished 
books  of  Oviedo's  History  of  the  Indies  were  in  a  state 
of  preparation  for  the  press,  nothing  being  wanting  but 
a  portion  of  the  manuscript,  belonging  to  the  Queen's 
private  library,  —  to  which  access,  strange  to  say,  is 
difficult,  even  for  Academicians.  The  Padre  Baran- 
da,  a  learned  member  of  the  Academy,  was  intrusted 
with  a  continuation  of  the  Espaha  Sagrada  of  Flores, 
and  the  publicationof  several  volumes  of  Villanueva's 
"  Literary  Voyage  to  the  Churches  of  Spain,"  which 
are  yet  in  manuscript.  To  the  printing  of  these  latter 
works  a  liberal  contribution  was  made  by  the  Com- 
missary of  the  Bull  of  the  Crusade,  —  their  ecclesi- 
astical merit  and  interest  commending  them  a  good 
deal  more  to  such  patronage,  than  to  any  general  accep- 
tation in  the  literary  world.  The  Academy  can  hardly 
be'  said  to  be  in  a  flourishing  condition,  so  far  as  con- 
cerns its  capacity  for  the  dissemination  of  knowledge. 
The  library  is  a  good,  and  in  some  measure  a  rare  one, 
but  the  want  of  room  renders  its  arrangement  and  clas- 
sification extremely  imperfect,  so  that  —  the  catalogue 
being  in  manuscript  and  not  clear  to  the  uninitiated  —  it 
is  necessary  to  depend,  almost  entirely,  upon  the  per- 
sonal familiarity  of  the  worthy  librarian  with  the  sheep  of 
his  pasture.  Under  such  circumstances,  and  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  but  the  most  limited  pecuniary  resources, 
the  institution  is  necessarily  narrowed  in  the  sphere  of 


SPAIN.  357 

its  usefulness,  and  principally  serves  to  keep  alive,  in 
a  small  body  of  learned  and  indefatigable  scholars,  a 
quiet  devotion  to  the  literary  anti(|uities  of  their  coun- 
try. Before  I  let*t  Madrid,  it  was  in  contemplation  to 
remove  the  collections  of  the  Academy  to  a  more  favor- 
able and  commodious  locality,  and  it  may  be  that  some 
impulse  will  thus  be  given  to  its  labors,  which  will  en- 
able it  to  continue  worthy  of  the  days  of  Clemencin  and 
Navarrete.  So  far  as  industry  and  learning  may  con- 
tribute to  this  result,  there  is  enough  of  both,  among 
the  members,  to  insure  it. 

The  National  Library,  with  its  collection  of  130,000 
volumes,  is  an  excellent  institution,  so  far  as  it  goes, 

—  a  perfect  model  in  its  arrangement,  and  in  the  liber- 
ality with  which  provision  is  made  for  the  convenient 
and  satisfactory  access  of  the  public.  The  apart- 
ments are  many  and  comfortable,  and  the  attendants  as 
numerous  and  courteous  as  could  be  desired.  Those 
who  are  interested  in  coins  and  medals  will  find  an  ex- 
tensive and  admirable  collection  there,  —  probably  un- 
surpassed by  any  of  Europe  in  the  Arabic  department, 
which  owes  the  beauty  of  its  arrangement  —  so  often 
praised  —  to  the  skill  and  learning  of  Don  Pascual  de 
Gayangos.  The  Library  is  obnoxious  to  the  same  com- 
plaint which  has  been  made  in  regard  to  the  more  lim- 
ited collection  of  the  Academy  of  History,  —  the  want 
of  proper  and  complete  indexes.  Those  which  exist 
are  very  perfect,  down  to  their  date  ;  but  they  have  not 
been  systematically  added  to  for  several  years.  Being 
in  manuscript  also,  —  of  which  there  is  but  one  copy, 

—  they  furnish  the  most  limited  facilities,  even  where 
they  are  complete  ;    and   it  is  necessary   to  resort  to 


358  SPAIN. 

the  officers  in  charge  of  them  with  a  frequency  which 
is  a  great  obstacle  to  uninterrupted  and  elaborate  inves- 
tigation. The  collection  of  books  also  needs  mod- 
ernizing very  much.  It  is  unequivocally  behind  the 
times,  and  meagre  in  its  stock  of  contemporary  litera- 
ture. But  every  thing  cannot  be  done  at  once.  Ma- 
terial necessities  must  be  met,  before  intellectual  crav- 
ings can  be  satisfied.  Arms  must  have  yielded  long, 
before  the  toga  can  be  worn  as  a  familiar  garment. 

The  lover  of  romantic  antiquity  will  probably  find 
nothing  in  Europe  to  delight  him  more,  in  that  regard, 
than  the  superb  Armeria  (Armory)  near  the  Palace. 
It  is  not  only  rich  in  armor  and  weapons,  the  most  com- 
plete, ingenious,  and  magnificent,  in  themselves,  but 
suggestive,  at  every  step,  of  all  that  is  chivalrous  and 
glorious  in  Spanish  history.  Suit  after  suit,  bruised  in 
the  bloodiest  frays,  —  swords  which  have  names  in  song 
and  chronicle,  —  shields  and  lances  which  have  driven 
back,  or  onward,  the  tide  of  famous  battle,  —  are  all 
there,  as  they  were  worn,  or  borne,  or  wielded,  by  king 
and  champion.  Moor  and  Christian.  Blades  of  the  Pala- 
dins, —  the  mail  of  the  Cid,  —  the  halberd  of  Peter  the 
Cruel,  —  the  armor  of  Isabella,  and  Boabdil,  and  Gon- 
zalo  of  Cordova,  —  the  casque  of  the  captive  Francis, 

—  the  harness  of  the  great  Emperor,  his  victor,  —  of 
Columbus  and  "  stout  Cortes,"  —  of  Guzman  the  Good, 

—  of  Ferdinand  the  saint  and  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  — 
and  sinner !  It  is  a  place  to  read  ballads  and  dream 
dreams,  and  ask  no  questions. 

As  an  historical  memorial,  I  was  struck  with  an  adar- 
ga,  or  Moorish  shield  of  dressed  leather,  which  belonged 
to  Charles  the  Fifth.     It  is  divided  into  four  compart- 


SPAIN.  359 

merits,  tlic  upper  one  of  which,  upon  tlie  left,  contains  a 
representation  of  the  surrender  of  the  Alhanibra.  Fer- 
dinand rides  on  the  outside,  on  a  white  charger  ;  the 
Queen,  on  a  white  palfrey,  is  between  him  and  a  gray- 
haired  man,  supposed  to  be  the  Cardinal  Mciidoza. 
They  are  entering  at  one  gate,  followed  by  their  sol- 
diery, while  from  another  gate  of  the  same  tower  sal- 
lies Boabdil,  with  but  one  attendant.  The  similarity  of 
this  picture  to  the  bass-relief  on  the  altar  of  the  Catholic 
Sovereigns,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Granada,  entitles  it  to 
some  consideration  as  illustrating  a  point  on  which  the 
chronicles  ditler.  I  referred  to  the  question  in  the 
"  Glimpses  of  Spain,"  and  it  is  hardly  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  deserve  more  than  the  present  allusion. 

It  would  be  scarcely  pardonable  to  take  my  leave  of 
Madrid,  without  some  reference  to  the  bull-fights  of 
tlie  famous  season  of  1850.  Not  that  there  is  any 
thing  new  to  be  said  or  sung  upon  the  subject,  in  the 
general,  —  nor  that  I  propose  to  say  or  sing  what 
has  been  heard  so  often  before  ;  but  that  the  veteran 
Monies,  "  the  first  sword  of  Spain,"  returned,  during  my 
visit,  to  the  scene  of  his  triumphs  which  he  had  for  six 
years  deserted,  and  his  advent  was  an  epoch  in  the 
annals  of  tauromachy.  When  it  began  to  be  rumored 
that  he  was  coming,  the  newspapers  were  wild,  and  the 
people  in  ecstasy.  He  brought  with  him  his  nephew, 
the  famous  Chiclanero ;  and  the  Duke  of  Veraguas,  a 
grandee  of  Spain  and  the  lineal  descendant  of  Colum- 
bus, was  one  of  the  attorneys  who  contracted  on  their 
part  with  the  directors  of  the  Plaza.  A  procession  of 
the  fancy,  noble  and  gentle,  went  out  to  meet  him  as 
he  drew  near  Madrid,  and,  after  feasting  and  concratu- 


360  SPAIN. 

lation,  he  entered  the  city  in  triumph.  His  first  per- 
formance was  on  the  afternoon  of  Easter  Sunday,  —  a 
special  honor  to  the  day.  The  Plaza  was  crowded  to 
overflowing,  the  troupe  was  choice  and  beautifully 
equipped,  and  the  array  of  loveliness,  fashion,  and  en- 
thusiasm not  to  be  surpassed.  The  great  matador  was 
received  as  a  victor  from  a  hard-fought  field.  He  bore 
his  laurels  modestly,  and  addressed  himself  at  once,  like 
a  man,  to  his  work. 

Though  past  the  prime  of  life  and  of  activity,  Montes 
was  conspicuous  for  his  athletic  form  and  perfect  com- 
posure.    He  had 

"  The  eye  of  the  hawk,  and  the  fire  therein,"  — 

dexterity,  which  nothing  but  long  practice,  courage, 
and  command  of  nerve  can  give,  in  the  presence 
of  such  terrible  and  instant  danger.  When  the  bull 
came  in,  he  would  sit  for  a  few  moments  on  the 
barrier  and  watch  his  motions.  Apparently  satisfied 
as  to  the  character  of  the  animal  by  this  brief  ob- 
servation, he  would  descend  into  the  arena,  and  place 
himself  where  he  pleased.  He  would  call  the  bull, 
—  attract  and  mock  him  with  his  cloak,  backwards 
and  forwards  and  again,  — and  yet  not  desert  a  circle 
of  ten  feet  in  diameter.  Where  the  handeriUeros 
would  fly  and  leap  the  barrier,  he  would  avoid  the 
charge  by  the  slightest  inclination  of  his  body,  without 
a  step  to  the  right  or  left.  Once  I  saw  him  call  the  bull, 
and  as  the  furious  animal  rushed  towards  him,  Montes 
confronted  him  with  folded  arms  and  steady  gaze.  The 
bull  turned  instantly  aside,  and  attacked  some  other  of 
the  company.     It  seemed,  indeed,  as  if  his  mastery 


SPAIN.  361 

over  tlic  wild  brutes  was  absolute,  —  as  if,  to  use  the 
language  of  one  of  the  journals,  "  they  knew  him  and 
respected  him."  To  me,  1  confess,  it  was  incompre- 
Jiensiblo,  —  to  the  reader  it  will,  I  fear,  be  incredible. 

The  killing  of  the  bull  by  Montes  was  a  very  mir- 
acle,—  no  butchery,  no  side-blow,  no  loss  of  swords, 
no  hurry,  no  help.  In  one  and  the  same  instant  the 
sword  flashed  behind  the  crimson  cloak,  and  the  mala' 
dor  was  wiping  the  blood  from  his  blade,  with  the  vic- 
tim at  his  feet.  I  saw  the  whole  Plaza  rise,  to  a  man, 
in  admiration  of  one  such  blow.  The  newspapers  were 
absolutely  glorious  in  their  accounts  of  the  maestro'a 
performances ;  but  the  details  of  their  descriptions, 
though  no  doubt  interesting  to  the  fancy,  were  as  unin- 
telligible to  me,  as  the  history  of  a  milling-match  in 
Bell's  Life  in  London.  I  endeavored  to  educate  my- 
self up  to  the  proper  level,  by  reading  the  treatise  of 
Montes  himself  on  Taurotnoquia,  —  a  work  of  consid- 
erable reputation ;  but  I  found  it  as  scientific  as  a 
book  of  surgery,  and  as  deep  as  one  of  Mr.  Emerson's 
Essays.  Having  had  occasion,  at  the  time,  to  turn  to 
Ford's  Hand-Book,  —  which  is  full  of  knowledge  and 
admirable  description  in  regard  to  the  sports  of  the 
arena,  —  I  fell  by  chance  on  that  singular  passage,  in 
which  he  gives  vent  to  his  nationality,  by  speaking  of 
the  "  quick  work  "  which  "  a  real  British  bull,  with  his 
broad  neck  and  short  horns,  would  make  with  the  men 
and  horses  of  Spain  "  !  I  could  not  but  feel  curious  to 
know  what  the  patriotism  of  the  writer  might  induce 
him  to  think  of  a  boar-hunt,  with  prize  pigs. 

Since  my  return  from  Spain,  Montes  has  fallen  before 
a  mightier  matador  than  himself, —  having  died  of  a 


362 


SPAIN. 


fever,  or  a  doctor,  at  home,  in  his  bed.  The  account 
which  I  have  of  his  decease  sets  down  his  age  at  forty- 
six.  In  the  ring,  he  appeared  at  least  ten  years  older. 
"  Six  bull-fighters,"  says  his  chronicler,  "  bore  his  cof- 
fin in  silent  sadness He  was  of  noble  family, 

but  was  compelled,  by  the  reduced  circumstances  of  his 
father,  to  gain  his  subsistence  with  his  own  hands.  The 
destiny  of  a  day-laborer,  however,  did  not  furnish  a 
field  broad  enough  for  the  movements  of  his  soul.  In 
his  straits,  he  sought  a  door  to  the  temple  of  fame,  — 
and  he  found  it.  He  elevated  his  art  to  a  height  un- 
known before,  and  the  whole  world  beheld  with  awe  the 
triumphs  of  his  skill  and  valor  !  " 

What  is  glory,  after  all  ?  And  what  lacks  Montes, 
but  his  Homer,  to  live  as  long  as  Ajax  ?  Is  not  the 
hero  thrice  blessed  who  slays  only  cattle  .'' 


SPAIN. 


303 


XXIX. 


VaLI.ADOLID.  —  SiMANCAS  AKD    ITS    ARCHIVES. — BlASCO  DE 

Garay  and  the  Application  of  Steam  to  Navigation. 
—  His  Invention  a  Fahle. —  Buncos.  —  Vercara.  —  Vis- 
it TO  AzpEiTiA.  —  Valley  of  Loyola.  —  Jesuit  Col- 
lege AND  Church.  —  The  Basques.  —  Their  Charac- 
ter, Agriculture,  and  Institutions. —  Tolosa.  —  Ride 
TO  Bayonne.  — The  Gascon. 

When  I  left  Madrid,  the  duty  which  called  me  home- 
ward permitted  but  little  deviation  from  the  beaten 
track  by  which  I  had  entered  Spain.  I  took  advantage, 
however,  of  a  few  days'  leisure  and  the  agreeable  com- 
panionship of  a  fellow-countryman  and  friend,  to  visit 
the  noble  old  city  of  Valladoiid,  and  the  works  of  art 
which  are  still  so  splendid  in  Burgos.  A  full  account 
of  our  journey  would  be  out  of  place  here,  and  the  ob- 
jects of  interest  which  we  passed  in  review  would  be 
unfairly  dealt  with,  if  treated  otherwise  than  in  detail. 

From  Valladoiid,  an  excursion  to  the  Archives  of 
Simancas  was  a  matter  of  course.  A  drive  of  two 
leagues  or  thereabouts,  along  the  banks  of  the  Pisuerga, 
—  which  waters  a  beautiful  and  highly  cultivated  val- 


364  SPAIN. 

ley,  —  carried  us  to  the  base  of  a  bold  hill,  whose  sum- 
mit is  crowned  by  the  village  of  Simancas.  High  over 
all  rises  the  stern  old  castle,  with  its  round  towers,  which 
once  belonged  to  the  valorous  Henriquez,  —  the  Admi- 
rals of  Castile,  —  and  in  which  are  now  deposited  so 
many  of  the  most  important  records  of  the  Spanish 
realm.  Making  our  way  on  foot  up  the  precipitous 
and  narrow  streets  of  the  town,  we  at  last  reached  a 
stone  bridge,  which  occupied  the  place  of  the  old 
drawbridge  and  led  us,  across  the  moat,  to  the  massive 
gateway  of  the  castle.  The  occupation  of  the  moat  was 
as  peaceful  as  that  of  the  grim  walls  it  girdled,  for  a 
harvest  of  luxuriant  grain  was  growing  along  its  deep 
and  fertile  round. 

The  kind  letters  of  our  friends  at  Madrid  commend- 
ed us  so  efficiently  to  the  good  offices  of  the  courteous 
and  learned  archivero,  Sr.  Gonzalez  Garcia,  that  we 
were  soon  introduced  to  the  most  interesting  of  his 
curiosities.  The  French  destroyed  many  documents 
of  value  and  removed  others,  —  partly  from  wanton- 
ness and  partly  to  obliterate  the  historical  traces  of  some 
transactions  and  mischances  of  their  own  ;  but  the 
Arckivo  is  still  a  treasure-house  of  European  history, 
and  access  is  now  obtained  to  it  with  so  much  greater 
facility  than  of  old,  that  it  is  likely  yet  to  revolutionize 
many  received  historical  theories  and  dogmas.  The 
History  of  Philip  the  Second,  now  in  the  hands  of  our 
eminent  fellow-citizen,  Mr.  Prescott,  will  probably  affiard 
early  evidence  in  this  behalf. 

The  papers,  throughout  the  whole  Archivo,  are  capi- 
tally arranged  and  kept,  —  the  most  precious,  in  queer 
old   areas  or  chests,  which  are  deposited  in  safes  or 


SPAIN.  365 

small  vaulted  chambers,  for  which  the  solid  walls  aflbrd 
excellent  convenience.  The  state  apartment  contains 
perhaps  the  most  valuable  documents,  in  the  shape  of 
diplomatic  correspondence.  Some  idea  of  the  copious- 
ness of  the  records  here  may  be  formed  from  the  fact, 
that  the  letters  of  (tondomar,  the  Ambassador  of  Spain 
at  the  Court  of  James  the  Second  of  Enuland,  fill 
eighteen  folio  volumes.  Among  the  more  curious  pa- 
pers may  be  seen  the  wills  of  Isabella  the  Catholic  and 
her  grandson,  Charles  the  Fifth  ;  the  autograph  letter  of 
John  of  Austria,  written  in  the  flush  of  the  victory  of 
Lepanto,  with  a  plan  of  the  battle,  drawn  by  himself; 
and  the  memoranda  made  by  Philip  the  Second  for  the 
despatch  to  be  written  in  reply.  Philip  was  a  pragmat- 
ical man  of  business,  and  made  memoranda  and  notes 
of  every  thing,  so  that  almost  all  the  details  of  his 
reign  may  be  traced  here  after  his  own  hand.  In  some 
of  the  lower  courts  of  the  castle  there  were  immense 
bales  of  papers  lying,  which  had  belonged  to  the  ar- 
chives of  the  Inquisition  at  Madrid.  They  had  not  been 
long  remitted,  and  there  was  no  room  for  them.  An 
mito  de  fe  would  be  a  characteristic  and  appropriate 
disposition  of  them. 

"  Let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead." 

In  the  copying-room  of  the  Archico,  we  had  the  good 
fortune  to  find  Don  Jose  Aparici,  an  exceedingly  inter- 
esting person,  to  whom,  also,  we  were  recommended. 
He  was  a  colonel  of  engineers,  a  man  of  science,  and 
an  antiquarian  and  scholar  of  no  mean  repute,  to  whom 
had  been  assigned  the  duty  of  preparing  materials, 
from  the  records,  for  a  history  of  the  Engineer  De- 


366  SPAIN. 

partment  of  Spain,     To  this  task  he   had  voluntarily 
added  that  of  searching  the  archives  for  the  annals  of 
the  artillery  corps.      He  showed  us  some    twenty  or 
thirty  volumes  of  copies,  the  fruits  of  six  years'  inves- 
tigations, and  yet  covering  only  the  history  of  the  six- 
teenth and  a  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.     He  had 
searched,  as  far  as  he  had  gone,  all  of  the  papers  in 
the  archives  of  the  War  Department,  and  contemplated 
going  through  all  those  of  later  date.     The  number  of 
years  which  his  labors  were  still  likely  to  occupy  was 
of  course  uncertain,  —  not  less  than  six,  however,  at  the 
least.     Taking  us  to  his  house,  he  showed  us  a  beautiful 
collection  of  fac-similes  he  had  made  of  the  signatures 
of  all  the   distinguished  persons  —  kings,  queens,  sol- 
diers, statesmen,  artists,  and  scholars  —  of  the  fifteenth, 
sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries.    Among  them  we 
noticed  the  name  of  Blasco  de   Garay,   the  engineer, 
to  whom  has  been  attributed,  by  many,  the  first  appli- 
cation of  steam,  with  success,  to  the  purposes  of  navi- 
gation.     The   reader  who   is  familiar  with  either  the 
history  of  Spain  or  that  of  the  steam-engine,  will  re- 
member that  the  experiment  is  said  to  have  been  tri- 
umphantly made  by  Garay,  in  the  presence  of  Charles 
the  Fifth,  in  the  harbor  of  Barcelona,  and  that  the  pros- 
ecution of  the  discovery  was  arrested  by  a  court  in- 
trigue.    The  details  were  given  to  the  world  by  Don 
Martin   Navarrete,   in  his    Coleccion  de   Viages,  &c., 
and  were  perhaps  first  republished  in  the  United  States 
in  Mr.  Slidell's   "  Year  in  Spain."     To  our  surprise. 
Colonel  Aparici  informed  us,  that  the  whole  story  was  a 
mere  fiction.     The  facts  which  he  related  in  regard  to 
it  bear  so  closely  on  a  question  of  great  interest,  par- 


SPAIN.  367 

ticularly  in  this  country,  as  to  induce  me  to  depart  from 
my  original  plan,  by  giving  this  account  of  my  visit  to 
Simancas. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Garay  —  who  calls  him- 
self, in  his  memorials,  "  un  pobre  hidalgo  de  Toledo  " 
(a  poor  gentleman  of  Toledo)  —  was  a  man  of  a  great 
deal  of  mechanical  talent  and  proficiency  in  the  phy- 
sical sciences.  The  records  of  Simancas  show  many 
projects  of  his,  which  indicate  an  active  and  inven- 
tive mind.  Among  them  is  an  ingenious  plan  for  con- 
verting salt  water  into  fresh,  at  sea.  The  invention 
which  has  given  rise  to  his  connection  with  the  his- 
tory of  steam  navigation  was  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  the  substitution  of  wheels  for  oars  in  the  royal 
galleys.  lie  made  four  failures  in  the  harbor  of 
Malaga.  His  fifth  experiment,  which  was  in  the  port 
of  Barcelona,  was  in  a  measure  successful.  With  two 
wheels,  and  relays  of  six  men  for  each,  he  was  able  to 
move  a  large  galley,  at  the  rate  of  something  more 
than  a  league  in  the  hour.  The  crew  of  such  a  vessel, 
when  moved  by  oars,  was  required  to  number  at  least 
a  hundred  and  fifty  men.  The  Emperor,  who  was  to 
have  been  present  at  the  experiment,  was  called  off' 
suddenly  to  the  Low  Countries,  and  Garay  lost  the 
benefit  of  his  personal  inspection.  When  the  result, 
however,  was  communicated  to  Charles,  he  made  the 
same  objection  which  has  been  urged,  in  our  time, 
to  the  use  of  war-steamers.  He  said  that  a  can- 
non-bull might  destroy  the  machinery,  and  render  the 
galley  unmanageable  at  a  single  blow.  It  was  this 
opinion  of  the  Emperor,  and  no  intrigue  of  the  Treas- 
urer Kavago,  as    stated  by  Navarrete,  which  put  an 


368  SPAIN. 

end  to  Garay's  improvement.  He  died  poor,  and  there 
is  extant,  in  the  Archive,  a  memorial  of  his  son  after 
his  death,  asking  the  allowance  of  a  hundred  ducats, 
for  the  construction  of  another  machine  according  to 
the  father's  plan.     It  was  not  granted. 

These  facts,  which  conclusively  settle  the  question  of 
Garay's  invention,  were  given  to  me  by  Colonel  Apa- 
rici,  in  detail,  and  with  an  otfer  to  refer  to  the  copies 
of  the  proper  documents.  They  are,  of  course,  not 
made  public  here  without  his  permission.  He  told  us 
that  he  had  looked  over  every  paper  in  the  Archivo., 
having  any  connection  with  the-projects  of  Garay,  and 
that  there  is  not,  in  any  memorial,  report,  or  ojicio 
relating  to  the  subject,  a  single  allusion  to  steam,  or  to 
a  caldera  (boiler)  or  any  thing  which,  directly  or  in- 
directly, suggests  the  idea  of  steam  as  a  motive-power. 
He  added,  that  the  facts  which  he  thus  communicated 
to  us  were  known  to  a  great  many  persons  in  Spain, 
and  particularly  to  the  members  of  the  Academy  of 
History  ;  but  that  there  was  a  natural  indisposition,  on 
every  one's  part,  to  take  the  lead  in  giving  them  to  the 
world.  The  invention  was  too  glorious  a  one  for  the 
national  pride  to  surrender  without  a  struggle.  The 
documents,  however,  he  said,  must  one  day  appear. 
He  himself  had  prepared  some  biographical  memoran- 
da for  the  press,  which  he  showed  us,  in  which  the 
true  state  of  the  case  was  lightly  alluded  to,  by  way  of 
preparing  the  public  mind.  To  use  his  own  emphatic 
and  manly  language,  "  he  could  not  think  that  fame, 
which  was  a  lie,  was  worth  preserving." 

It  is  but  justice  to  the  learned  and  indefatigable  Na- 
varrete  to  say,  that  there  is  not  the  slightest  imputation 


SPAIN.  369 

upon  his  candor  or  research  involved  in  the  fact  of  his 
having  published  a  statement,  which  now  turns  out  to  be 
so  far  unfounded.  The  documents  on  which  he  relied 
were  furnished  to  him  from  a  responsible  source,  and 
he  gave  the  results  to  the  press  in  the  best  faith.  Small 
portions  of  the  latter  part  of  Garay's  correspondence 
were  all  that  he  received,  and  the  allusions  to  steam  were 
surreptitiously  introduced,  to  impose  on  him.  It  is  not 
known  whether  he  was  ever  informed  of  the  imposition  ; 
certainly  he  was  not,  if  at  all,  until  after  his  advanceji 
age  had  placed  literary  labor  of  any  sort  beyond  his 
powers.  The  memory  of  so  able,  pure,  and  accu- 
rate an  historian  deserves  this  statement.  In  the  multi- 
plicity and  scope  of  his  painful  and  protracted  labors, 
he  could  not  possibly  see  all  things  with  his  own  eyes. 

After  two  or  ftiree  days  spent  among  the  wonders  of 
the  past  and  the  discomforts  of  the  present,  in  both  of 
which  Burgos  is  so  abounding,  my  companion  was  called 
back  to  official  duties  in  the  capital,  and  I  resumed 
my  journey  towards  the  frontier,  pausing  only  for  a 
slight  deflection  into  Guipuzcoa  (one  of  the  Basque 
provinces),  to  visit  the  family  of  a  valued  friend  whom 
I  had  left,  an  exile,  in  America.  We  diverged  from 
the  main  road  at  Vergara,  —  the  scene  of  Espartero's 
famous  "  Convention  "  with  Maroto,  —  a  sweet  little 
town  in  a  shady  and  romantic  defile,  by  far  too  beauti- 
ful to  be  the  witness  of  unnatural  and  cruel  strife.  For 
a  league  and  a  half  our  journey  lay  along  the  margin 
of  the  Deva,  which  is  indeed  a  "  wizard  stream."  The 
lofty  hills  between  which  it  flows  were  cultivated  al- 
most to  their  summits,  in  every  variety  and  shade  of 
green,  to  which  the  iron-tinted  soil,  where  freshly  turned, 

24 


370  SPAIN. 

gave  charming  contrast  and  relief.  Here  and  there, 
whole  hill-sides,  covered  with  the  yellow  turnip-blossom, 
looked,  in  the  sun,  like  fields  of  cloth  of  gold.  White 
caserias  (farm-houses)  peeped  out  at  every  turn,  from 
groups  of  trees ;  peasants  were  at  work  all  round  us  ; 
horned  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats,  in  large  numbers,  were 
cropping  the  luxuriant  grass.  Every  inch  of  ground 
was  converted  to  some  useful  purpose  ;  every  handful 
of  soil  was  made  to  yield  its  double-handfuls  of  product. 
Defile  came  after  defile,  and  gorge  after  gorge,  all 
beautiful  alike.  Mountain  streams  rushed  down,  in 
foam,  beside  the  road,  and  now  and  then  leaped  wildly 
across  it.  The  Deva  was  full  and  turbid,  from  recent 
rains.  The  gray  stone  of  the  bridges  over  it  was  often 
covered  with  mosses  and  pendent  vines.  The  walls, 
along  its  banks  and  on  the  upper  side  of  the  road,  were 
green  with  ivies  and  lichens,  and  fringed  with  fern. 
Wild-flowers,  blue  and  yellow,  spangled  the  dark  car- 
pet on  the  lower  grounds.  Every  thing  told  of  moist- 
ure and  sunshine. 

After  a  while,  as  we  advanced  in  our  ascent,  the 
scene  developed  itself  into  wider  valleys,  and  the  hills 
began  to  wear  a  savage  look  about  their  summits,  well 
suited  to  suggest  the  presence  of  those  "  spirits  and 
walking  devils,"  with  which  old  Burton,  upon  learned 
authority,  has  peopled  the  ruggedness  of  the  Cantabrian 
Mountains.  We  saw  none  of  these,  however ;  but  as 
we  were  toiling  upwards,  near  a  hill-top,  our  path  was 
suddenly  and  swiftly  crossed  by  a  party  of  Pasiego 
smugglers,  after  whom  the  custom-house  guards  were 
in  full  cry.  They  were  stout,  athletic  fellows,  —  so 
well  able  to  meet  danger,  that  it  was  no  wonder  they 


SPAIN.  371 

despised  it.  Each  of  them  carried  a  mountaineer's  long 
pole,  and  they  rushed  over  the  rocks,  and  up  throujih 
the  forest,  with  an  agility  that  was  astonishing.  Mv 
postilion  wisely  turned  his  back,  so  as  not  to  see  the 
direction  which  they  took,  and  when  the  troops  came 
up,  he,  of  course,  could  give  them  no  information.  I 
dismounted  and  walked  a  half-mile  with  the  ofhcer  in 
command,  who  was  a  pleasant  fellow  and  asked  me 
no  questions.  lie  told  me  that  a  party  of  his  men  were 
behind,  with  the  main  body  of  the  conlrabandistas, 
whom  they  had  captured.  I  saw  the  poor  Pasiegos 
pass  along,  afterwards,  two  by  two,  quite  unconcerned. 
At  the  next  venta,  the  soldiers  bound  their  hands  to- 
gether, apparently  with  great  reluctance  ;  but  the  cap- 
tives smoked  their  cigars  very  contentedly  during  the 
process.  They  were  superb  peasants,  of  the  manliest 
mould,  which  was  well  set  otTby  the  tight,  neat  costume 
of  their  province.  It  was  sad  to  reflect  that  a  system 
of  pernicious  and  unreasonable  laws  should  tempt  such 
stalwart  fellows  from  honest  labor,  to  waste  their  man- 
hood in  the  squalid  toil  of  the  chain-gangs. 

Ascent  and  descent,  equally  tedious  but  for  the 
beauty  of  the  scenery  and  the  excellence  of  the  road, 
carried  us,  at  last,  into  the  valley  of  Loyola,  where, 
on  the  margin  of  a  copious  and  rapid  stream,  bearing 
the  musical  name  Urola,  lay  the  delightful  village  of 
Azpeitia,  the  place  of  my  destination.  The  town  is 
famous  as  the  birthplace  of  the  great  founder  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  who,  in  the  various  colors  of  saint 
and  sage,  bigot  and  madman,  —  according  to  the  pre- 
dilection, or  judgment,  or  prejudice  of  the  painter,  —  has 
filled  so  many  pages  of  the  world's  most  serious  his- 


372  SPAIN, 

tory.  The  house  in  which  he  was  born,  with  the  arms/ 
of  his  family  —  two  wolves,  at  a  pot  suspended  by  a 
chain  —  rudely  sculptured  over  the  entrance,  is  still  in 
perfect  preservation,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  town. 
It  is  now  incorporated  into  the  buildings  of  the  immense 
Jesuit  College,  whose  founders  once  owned  the  wide 
and  pleasant  huerta,  still  green  and  plentiful  about  it. 
The  church  of  the  college  is  a  superb  rolonde,  with  a 
dome  and  lantern  in  fine  taste,  —  the  most  remarkable 
building  of  its  style  in  Spain.  It  is  constructed  of  hard 
black  jasper,  which  takes  an  exquisite  polish.  The 
front  and  the  grand  Corinthian  portico  look  as  if  they 
were  made  of  the  costliest  Egyptian  marble.  The 
good  priest,  who  was  our  guide,  showed  me  a  magnifi- 
cent block,  in  which  the  town,  the  smiling  valley,  and 
the  hills  about  it,  were  reflected,  as  in  a  perfect  mir- 
ror. The  high  altar  and  many  parts  of  the  interior  of 
the  edifice  are  remarkable  for  the  variety  and  great 
beauty  of  the  marbles,  —  all  of  which  are  Spanish  ; 
some  of  them  from  the  Granadian  mountains,  but  the 
most  from  those  of  Biscay.  Some  of  the  mosaics  and 
inlaid  work  can  with  difficulty  be  surpassed.  The 
church  was  deserted,  being  under  the  charge,  for  pres- 
ervation only,  of  a  solitary  clergyman,  once  the  prior 
of  a  convent  in  Azpeitia.  The  college  was  the  prop- 
erty of  the  province,  and  then  only  used  as  the  depos- 
itory of  the  archives  of  Guipuzcoa.  The  whole  estab- 
lishment has  since  been  restored  to  the  Jesuit  fathers. 

But  it  was  not  to  enjoy  the  beauties  of  architecture, 
art,  or  scenery,  that  the  reader  was  invited  to  join  me 
in  this  little  pilgrimage.  It  was  that  he  might  observe 
the  totally  different  characteristics  of  the  Basque  prov- 


SPAIN. 


373 


inces,  as  comparerl  with  the  rest  of  the  kingrlom,  and 
attiich  the  proper  consideration  to  those  accounts  wliich 
deal  with  Spain  as  homogoneous  in  its  physical,  moral, 
industrial,  and  aj^ricultural  developments,  —  a  nation  to 
be  sketched  in  a  paragraph,  with  a  flourish  of  the  pen. 
The  Basque  territory  is  as  unlike  Castile,  La  Mancha, 
or  Andalucia,  as  nature  and  man  can  make  it.  Instead 
of  dehesas  and  drspoblados,  —  wastes  and  depopulated 
places,  —  wide  fields,  without  fences  or  hedges,  —  scat- 
tered and  poor  villages,  —  woodless  plains  or  hill-sides, 
—  it  has  small  farms,  well  wooded  and  inclosed,  with 
bright  cottages,  and  cheerful  little  fields  not  a  foot  of 
which,  as  I  have  said,  but  pays  its  contribution  to  the 
farmer.  Where  the  plough  cannot  pass,  the  hoe  or  the 
hand  does  jts  work.  Between  the  rocks,  and  along  the 
precipices,  every  slip  of  soil  is  tilled.  The  very  difficul- 
ties of  the  location  seem  to  stimulate  the  energy  of  the 
laborer.  Plantations  of  beech  and  chestnut  reward  his 
toil  with  timber  and  fruit.  Crops  of  Indian  corn  spring 
up  around  him,  with  a  luxuriance  which  might  shame 
more  fertile  regions.  On  the  whole,  I  do  not  remember 
to  have  seen  a  country  more  resembling  those  delight- 
ful tracts,  among  the  Apennines,  which  M.  de  Sismondi 
describes  with  such  elegance  and  just  enthusiasm,  in 
his  Essays  on  Political  Economy. 

Indeed,  as  far  as  I  was  able  to  ascertain  during  my 
brief  visit,  the  lands  are  held,  in  some  sort,  upon  the 
principle  of  the  tnetairie  which  Sismondi  commends  so 
much  in  Tuscany.  The  leases,  for  the  most  part,  are 
very  long,  descending  often  from  father  to  son  among 
the  tenantry,  as  the  freehold  passes  in  the  family  of 
the  landlord.     A  small  pecuniary  rent  is  paid,  nom;- 


374  SPAIN. 

nally  for  the  house,  and  for  the  land  a  reasonable  portion 
of  the  crops  is  given.  Attached  to  each  caseria  there 
is  generally  a  tract  of  woodland,  often  at  a  consider- 
able distance,  upon  the  mountain  ;  but  sometimes  only 
a  right  is  reserved  to  cut  wood  for  farming  purposes 
and  fuel.  The  relations  of  landlord  and  tenant  are  so 
well  understood,  and  in  general  so  satisfactory,  that 
difficulties  but  seldom  occur ;  the  tenant,  on  the  one 
hand,  being  beyond  the  risk  of  exorbitant  exactions,  and 
the  landlord,  on  the  other,  quite  as  secure  in  the  receipt 
of  his  moderate  but  sufficient  income.  What  gives  to 
the  system  its  chief  merit  is  the  feature  which  ren- 
ders it  so  attractive  to  M.  de  Sismondi,  —  the  guaranty 
of  the  future  which  it  affijrds  the  laborer.  He  has 
something  before  him.  He  does  not  toil  for  present 
support  only,  preparing  the  land  for  a  stranger  who 
may  at  any  moment  be  put  in  his  place.  Every  foot 
that  he  redeems  from  barrenness  is  so  much  added  to 
his  own  stock  and  the  heritage  of  his  children.  He 
labors,  therefore,  as  if  the  land  were  his  own,  and  the 
spirit  with  which-  he  applies  his  hand  to  the  work  is  as 
fruitful  of  independence  and  content  to  him,  as  of  profit 
to  the  owner  of  the  soil.  He  gathers  his  humble  com- 
forts about  him  with  a  sense  of  security  and  perma- 
nence. His  condition  is  not  that  of  a  mere  agricultural 
proletary.  It  is  blended  with  the  enjoyments  and  sur- 
rounded by  the  blessings  of  rural  competency  and  a 
rural  home. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  peculiar  system,  and  of  their 
provincial  traits  of  frugality  and  industry,  the  Basques, 
though  an  extremely  crowded  population,  are  for  the 
most  part  well  fed,  well  clad,  and  physically  comfort- 


SPAIN.  375 

able.  There  is  verj'  little  memlicancy  or  extreme  pov- 
erty among  them.  By  nature,  they  arc  inanly,  frank, 
and  hardy,  like  mountaineers  in  general  ;  and  the 
freedom  of  their  political  charters  has  developed  these 
qualities  into  a  provincial  character  of  the  sturdiest  in- 
dependence. They  are  bold,  active,  and  enterprising  ; 
remarkable  throughout  the  kingdom  for  their  trust- 
worthiness and  stern  integrity.  On  the  other  hand, 
their  good  qualities  often  run  into  extremes,  and  they 
are  sometimes  obstinate,  abrupt,  close-fisted,  and  per- 
verse. "  Larga  y  antrosta,  como  alma  de  Vizcaino,''^ 
("Long  and  narrow,  like  the  soul  of  a  Biscayan,")  is 
the  proverb  in  which  their  compatriots  have  caricatured 
their  peculiarities.  As  pretendientes^  they  are  famous. 
Looking  over  the  Madrid  blue-book,  it  will  be  seen,  by 
their  unequivocable  surnames,  that  they  absorb  a  con- 
spicuous portion  of  the  jjublic  patronage  ;  but  all  who 
are  familiar  with  the  conduct  of  Spanish  affairs  will  do 
them  the  justice  to  admire  the  fidelity  and  ability  with 
which  they  respond  to  the  public  confidence.  Upon 
one  point  they  have  a  provincial  weakness  ;  it  is  for 
the  anticjuity  of  their  race  and  language.  The  latter, 
they  gravely  contend,  was  the  one  spoken  in  Paradise. 
If  it  was,  Schlcgel  has  omitted  the  strongest  argument 
in  favor  of  the  improvement  of  the  human  species. 

When  I  left  Azpeitia,  and  the  cordial  hospitality  which 
had  welcomed  me,  and  which  gave  me  such  regret  at 
parting,  I  turned  my  face  across  the  mountains  towards 
the  flourishing  town  of  Tolosa,  which  was  reached  in  a 
pleasant  afternoon's  journey.  The  next  morning  I 
mounted  the  diligence  for  the  North.  It  was  Sunday, 
—  a  soft  and  genial  day. 


376  SPAIN. 

"  So  calm,  so  pure,  so  bright," 
that  George  Herbert  might  well  have  called  it  "  the 
bridal  of  the  earth  and  sky,"  —  or  even  their  courtship, 
vi'hich  is  a  brighter  thing.  The  roads  and  the  village 
streets  were  lined  with  cheerful  peasants,  in  holiday  cos- 
tume, and  children  played  happily  by  the  way-sides,  in 
troops  that  would  have  saddened  a  Malthusian.  At  last, 
the  blue  Atlantic  hove  in  sight,  suggesting  thoughts  of 
the  far  land  beyond  it ;  then  came  the  frontier,  —  the 
custom-houses,  —  France,  —  evening,  —  and  Bayonne. 
"  Cest  bong,  pa  !  "  said  a  fat  Gascon  marchand  de 
chevaux,  who  rode  with  us,  next  day,  towards  Bordeaux. 
We  were  passing  through  one  of  those  stiff  and  formal 
avenues,  which  make  the  landscapes  so  often,  in  the 
South  of  France,  resemble  the  first  plates  in  Euclid's 
Elements.  "  Cest  bong,  fa  !  c'est  tres  pingtoresque  !  " 
repeated  the  Gascon,  leaning  heavily  upon  me  and  puff- 
ing his  pipe  in  my  face.  Neither  the  sentiment  itself, 
nor  the  mode  of  its  delivery,  was  calculated  to  enforce 
conviction,  in  one  who  despised  both  tobacco  and  straight 
lines;  but  it  awakened  me  to  the  first  full  consciousness 
that  I  was  out  of  Spain,  and  I  date  my  exodus  accord- 
ingly. 


SPAIN.  377 


XXX. 


Conclusion.  —  Political  Prospects  of  Spain.  —  Effects 
OF  Peace.  —  Espaktero.  —  The  Moderados.  —  Tub 
Queen  Mother.  —  The  Nobility.  —  Monarchy.  —  Re- 
publicanism.—  Independence  of  National  Character 
AND  Manners.  —  Loyalty.  —  Tendency  to  Federalism. 
—  Reasons  therefor,  and  Probability  of  a  Confed- 
eration. —  Its  Benefits.  —  The  Basque  Eueros.  — 
Effect  of  Internal  Improvements  and  Develop- 
ment of  Industrial  Resources.  —  Empleomania. — 
Reasons  for  American  Sympathy  with  Spain.  —  Jus- 
tice  DUE   HER. 

Having,  to  the  best  of  my  ability  and  information, 
placed  it  fairly  within  the  power  of  the  reader  to  draw 
conclusions  for  himself,  in  regard  to  the  political  future 
of  Spain,  I  have  little  to  add,  but  deductions  of  my  own. 
There  are  impressions,  sometimes  fi.\ed  upon  the  mind, 
when  in  the  centre  and  bustle  of  affairs,  which  have 
the  force  of  convictions,  though  one  can  scarce  tell 
why.  That  such  may  have  blended  themselves,  in  the 
present  case,  with  opinions  which  I  can  more  readily 
trace  and  perhaps  defend  more  satisfactorily  to  others, 
is   altogether   probable.     The   conclusions  at  which  I 


378  SPAIN. 

have  arrived  would  not  seem  to  me  less  likely  to  be 
accurate,  on  that  account ;  but  it  would  be  presumptu- 
ous to  expect  that  the  reader  should  be  willing, to  take 
them  equally  upon  trust. 

The  most  obvious  fact  which  the  preceding  chapters 
disclose,  and  a  fact  not  to  be  gainsaid,  is  the  revival  of 
the  prosperity  of  Spain  within  the  last  few  years.  The 
improvement  may  be  less  thorough,  and  less  worthy  of 
the  epoch,  than  it  should  be.  Its  course  may  have  been 
misdirected  and  interrupted.  It  may  yet  be  diverted, 
nay,  occasionally  arrested  altogether.  Nevertheless  it 
exists.  It  has  been  the  result  of  causes,  still  operative, 
which  were  deliberately  set  in  motion  to  produce  it ;  of 
principles,  which  it  was  dangerous  to  broach,  and  which 
it  has  cost  time  and  labor,  agitation  and  blood,  to  es- 
tablish. It  has  continued  to  go  on,  until  its  march,  rapid 
or  retarded,  has  grown  into  a  custom,  —  a  thing  of 
course.  It  has  wrought  changes,  which  it  is  now  too 
late  to  undo,  and  has  established  reforms,  from  which  a 
relapse  is  now  impossible,  because  the  abuses  reformed 
have  been  cut  up  at  the  roots.  It  has  vitality,  therefore, 
and  strength,  and  foothold,  and  it  must  advance. 

Nor  are  the  causes  of  this  revolution  less  obvious 
than  its  existence.  Liberal  institutions  and  peace  have 
been  the  immediate  and  main  agents  of  good.  With- 
out peace,  liberal  institutions  would  have  availed  but 
little ;  indeed,  until  the  civil  war  was  ended,  their 
practical  results  were  trifling,  in  comparison.  With 
peace,  a  far  less  rational  system  than  the  worst  phase 
of  that  which  has  prevailed  would  have  yielded,  by 
degrees,  to  popular  development ;  indeed,  the  sternest 
despotism  could  hardly,  at  this  epoch,  have  restrained  it 


SPAIN.  379 

altogether.  War  has  been,  beyond  all  question,  the 
bane  of  Spanish  freedom  and  prosperity,  as  fur  back 
as  history  records.  Foreign  or  domestic,  it  has  been 
the  perpetual  background  of  the  picture.  To  this  eter- 
nal strife,  more  than  to  despotism  in  all  its  varieties 
and  combinations,  the  decay  of  the  nation  is  attributa- 
ble ;  for  it  was  this,  in  fact,  which  gave  to  despotism 
its  opportunities,  its  pretexts,  and  its  arms.  Rest,  there- 
fore, more  than  all  things  else,  had  grown  absolutely 
indispensable  to  moral  and  political  regeneration,  — 
even  the  most  partial.  Tardy  as  may  have  seemed  to 
us  the  steps  of  the  recent  revolution  we  have  traced, 
they  would  have  been  incomparably  more  tedious  and 
unsteady,  but  for  the  peaceful  though  lethargic  years 
preceding  the  death  of  Ferdinand  the  Seventh.  It  was 
then  only  that  the  scattered  elements  of  change  took 
form  and  energy,  and  were  combined. 

In  view  of  this  necessity,  this  paramount  necessity,  of 
repose  to  the  nation,  I  have  commended,  in  their  turn, 
the  "  Convention  "  of  Espartero  with  Maroto,  and  the 
subsequent  policy  of  the  Moderado  party.  The  one  pro- 
duced peace,  —  the  other  has  undoubtedly  preserved  it. 
In  considering  the  wisdom  and  effect  of  public  measures, 
the  motives  and  the  processes  which  led  to  them  may  well 
be  left  out  of  the  account.  It  may  be  true  that  Esparte- 
ro bribed  Maroto, —  as  his  enemies  have  said,  —  because 
he  could  not  overcome  the  Carlists  in  fair  batde.  If  so, 
the  money  was  well  laid  out,  notwithstanding.  Nar- 
vaez  and  his  compeers  and  successors  may  have 
strengthened  the  arm  of  government,  not  merely  to 
save  the  nation  from  anarchy  and  its  results,  but  be- 
cause it  was  their  own  arm,  and  its  strength  was  their 


380  SPAIN. 

strength.  Yet  if  the  salvation  of  the  country  was 
in  fact  the  consequence,  —  if  faction  and  discord  were 
thereby  kept  down,  —  if  leisure  and  opportunity  were 
given  and  secured,  for  industry  and  enterprise,  and  the 
prosperity  and  happiness  that  wait  upon  them, —  what 
matters  it  that  a  constitutional  provision,  here  and  there, 
was,  for  the  moment,  ambitiously  broken  ?  Prosperous 
nations — confirmed  in  their  prosperity  —  can  afford  to 
be  technical,  and  may  stickle  even  for  abstractions  ;  a 
prostrate  land  must  have  realities,  not  words.  There  are 
situations  in  which  one  material  blessing  may  be  worth 
a  hundred  of  the  holiest  forms.  Better,  a  thousand 
fold,  to  Spain,  a  brief,  nay,  a  usurped  dictatorship,  with 
peace,  than  the  nominal  triumph  of  liberalism,  with  the 
certainty  of  reaction  and  desolation. 

Those  who  see  force  in  these  suggestions  will  not 
distrust  the  reality  of  the  good  which  has  already  been 
achieved  in  Spain,  nor  despair  of  the  future,  because  of 
occasional  arbitrary  passages,  and  suspensions  or  infrac- 
tions of  the  fundamental  law.  A  moment's  comparison 
of  what  is  now  with  what  but  recently  was,  and  a  con- 
sideration of  the  obstacles  which  have  been  overcome, 
and  the  limited  means  by  which  the  triumph  has  been 
won,  will  suffice  to  remove  all  doubts  in  regard  to  the 
present,  and  to  justify  the  happiest  augury.  But  the  fu- 
ture has  its  own  elements  of  promise,  besides.  When  it 
is  remembered  that  almost  every  man  of  eminence,  in 
the  ruling  party  and  the  opposition,  has  risen  from  the 
people,  and  owes  his  elevation,  not  to  royal  favor,  but 
to  the  popular  institutions  which  surround  the  throne,  it 
is  scarce  possible  to  conceive  an  act  of  such  wholesale 
suicide,  as  a  serious  attempt  to  reestablish  an   abso- 


sPAix.  381 

lute  government.  The  Queen,  as  has  been  said,  is 
without  ambition,  or  dangerous  quahties  of  any  sort. 
The  Queen  Mother,  though,  on  the  contrary,  as 
scheming  and  ambitious  as  the  blood  of  Naples  can 
make  her,  yet,  in  spite  of  her  large  wealth,  preem- 
inent position,  and  talent  for  intrigue,  has  never  been 
able  to  secure  a  hold  upon  the  popular  regard.  At  this 
moment,  though  perhaps  the  most  influential,  she  is 
probably  the  best  abused  and  most  thoroughly  detested 
person  in  Spain.  She  can  act  only  through  her  crea- 
tures, and  they  have  interests  of  their  own,  which  for- 
bid their  serving  her  beyond  a  certain  point.  As  a 
class,  the  nobles  have  no  political  influence  whatever ; 
and  as  individuals,  they  are,  almost  universally,  without 
the  talents  which  could  make  them  dreaded  or  useful. 

But  even  if  politicians  and  rulers  were  willing  to 
break  down  the  constitutional  system,  the  first  overt 
act  would  arouse  the  people  to  almost  unanimous  re- 
sistance. The  lotos  of  freedom  has  been  tasted,  and  it 
cannot  readily  be  stricken  from  their  lips.  So  long  as 
the  more  important  guaranties  are  not  altogether  vio- 
lated,—  so  long  as  the  government  substantially  dedi- 
cates itself  to  the  public  good,  by  originating  and  foster- 
ing schemes  of  public  usefulness, —  it  may  take  almost 
any  liberties  with  forms  and  non-essentials.  Much  fur- 
ther it  will  not  be  permitted  to  go,  and  every  day  di- 
minishes the  facility  with  which  it  may  go  even  thus 
far.  Every  work  of  internal  improvement,  which 
brings  men  closer  together,  enabling  them  to  compare 
opinions  'with  readiness  and  concentrate  strength  for 
their  maintenance  ;  every  new  interest  that  is  built  up  ; 
every  heavy  and  permanent  investment  of  capital  or 


382 


SPAIN. 


industry ;  every  movement  that  develops  and  difFuses  the 
public  intelligence  and  energy,  —  is  a  bulwark,  more 
or  less  formidable,  against  reaction.  Nay,  every  cir- 
cumstance that  makes  the  public  wiser,  richer,  or  better, 
must  shorten  the  career  of  arbitrary  rule.  The  com- 
pulsion, which  was  and  still  is  a  necessary  evil,  for  the 
preservation  of  peace,  must  be  withdrawn,  when  peace 
becomes  an  instinct  as  well  as  a  necessity.'  The  exist- 
ence of  a  stringent  system  will  no  longer  be  acquiesced 
in,  when  the  people  shall  have  grown  less  in  need  of 
government  and  better  able  to  direct  it  for  themselves. 
Thus,  in  their  season,  the  very  interests  which  shall  be 
consolidated  and  made  vigorous  by  forced  tranquillity 
will  rise,  themselves,  into  the  mastery.  The  stream  of 
power,  as  it  rolls  peacefully  along,  is  daily  strength- 
ening the  banks,  which,  every  day,  though  impercepti- 
bly, encroach  on  it.  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  in  his 
comment  on  Burke's  splendid  apostrophe  to  Chivalry, 
has  skilfully  depicted  a  similar  process  and  result,  in  the 
triumph  of  commerce  and  intelligence  over  the  feudal 
and  chivalrous  institutions  which  fostered  them  into 
strength  and  independence.  Hero  points  the  same 
moral,  in  telling  of  the  "  pleached  bower," 

"  Where  honeysuckles,  ripened  by  the  sun, 
Forbid  the  sun  to  enter,  —  like  favorites, 
Made  proud  by  princes,  that  advance  their  pride 
Against  that  power  that  bred  it ! " 

While,  therefore,  I  should  hardly  be  surprised  at  an 
attempt  to  assimilate  the  constitution  of  Spain,  in  some 
sort,  to  the  simpler  model  of  the  "  Prince-Presidency," 
1  should  regard  its  temporary  success  as  an  evil  by  no 
means  without  good.     An  enlightened  despotism  could 


SPAIN.  383 

not  easily  avoitl  layini^,  in  the  national  prosperity,  a 
solid  fonnflation  for  the  fuial  establishment  uf  a  per- 
manent free  system. 

Of  the  shape  which  the  fundamental  institutions  of 
Spain  will  ultimately  take,  there  is,  in  one  particular, 
but  little  room  fur  question.  The  traditions,  and  even 
the  prejudices,  of  the  people  are  monarchical  altogether. 
In  practice  and  from  conviction,  they  regard  loyalty  as 
a  virtue  and  a  sacred  duty.  There  are  really,  in  Spain, 
no  republicans  or  democrats  ;  or,  at  all  events,  no  per- 
sons seriously  contemplating  the  establishment  of  a  re- 
public or  a  democracy.  The  sense  of  personal  inde- 
pendence is  as  high  and  scrupulous  there,  as  it  can  be 
anywhere,  —  not  excepting  our  own  country.  And 
there  is  a  republican  element,  too,  in  the  character  and 
manners  of  the  Spaniards,  which  I  believe  exists  no- 
where else,  at  the  degree  in  which  they  possess  it. 
Your  American  citizen  will  concede  to  you,  if  you  ask 
him  to  do  so,  that  other  people  are  as  good  as  he.  But 
this  is  not  the  principle  which  he  sets  chiefly  forth,  in 
his  life  and  conversation.  It  is  the  reverse  of  the  med- 
al,—  it  is  the  conviction,  the  practical  demonstration, 
that  he  is  as  good  as  other  people.  He  will  not  deny  — 
he  dares  not  deny  —  the  equality  of  others  with  himself; 
but  he  goes  about  always  asserting  his  equality  with 
others.  The  Spaniard,  on  the  contrary,  has  a  sense  of 
equality,  which  blesses  him  who  gives  as  well  as  him 
who  takes.  If  he  requires  the  concession  from  others, 
he  demands  it,  chiefly  and  emphatically,  through  the 
concessions  which  he  makes  to  them.  There  is  so 
much  self-respect  involved  in  his  respect  to  others,  and 
in  his  manifestation  of  it,  that  reciprocity  is  unavoida- 


384  SPAIN. 

ble.  To  this,  and  this  mainly,  is  attributable  the  high, 
courteous  bearing,  which  is  conspicuous  in  all  the  peo- 
ple, and  which  renders  the  personal  intercourse  of  the 
respective  classes  and  conditions  less  marked  by  strong 
and  invidious  distinctions,  than  in  any  other  nation  with 
whose  manners  and  customs  I  am  familiar.  It  is  this, 
perhaps,  more  than  any  other  circumstance,  which  has 
tempered  and  made  sufferable  the  oppression  of  unequal 
and  despotic  institutions,  —  illustrating  "  the  advantage 
to  which,"  in  the  words  of  a  philosophic  writer,  "  the 
manners  of  a  people  may  turn  the  most  unfavorable 
position  and  the  worst  laws." 

But  with  this  eminently  republican  temper,  the  con- 
tinued loyalty  of  the  Spaniards  to  their  monarch  is  per- 
fectly compatible.  There  is  no  servility  in  it.  It  is 
homage  paid  to  the  individual,  as  identified  with  an  in- 
stitution. The  prince  is  the  embodiment  of  their  na- 
tionality, —  the  representative  of  past  glory  and  present 
unity.  They  rally  round  the  throne,  in  spite  of  the 
frailties  or  crimes  of  him  who  fills  it.  They  are  no 
worshippers  oT  Ferdinand  or  Isabella,  —  no  martyrs  for 
Carlos,  —  but  liegemen  to  the  person  whom  they  be- 
lieve to  be  the  rightful  monarch  of  the  Spains.  It  is 
a  matter  of  great  uncertainty,  therefore,  —  and  perhaps 
of  great  indifierence,  as  atfecting  the  question  of  free- 
dom, —  whether  the  most  perfect  system  of  liberal  in- 
stitutions which  the  Spaniards  may  adopt  will  be  with- 
out some  modification  of  the  monarchical  feature. 

The  political  horoscope,  in  other  respects,  is  not  so 
easy  to  cast.  The  general,  though  perhaps  the  re- 
mote tendency,  is,  I  think,  towards  a  federative  monar- 
chy.    The  relations  between  Spain  and  Portugal,  and 


SPAIN.  385 

the  feasibility  of  uniting  the  whole  Peninsula  as  one 
nation,  were  the  subjects  of  frequent  and  practical  dis- 
cussion, public  and  private,  when  I  was  in  Madrid,  and 
have  more  than  once  furnished  topics  of  serious  diplo- 
matical  consideration.  It  seems  difficult,  indeed,  to  un- 
derstand how  such  a  measure  as  a  Peninsular  Union, 
so  forcibly  suggested  by  so  mnny  natural  circumstances, 
has  been  so  long  deferred,  or  can  continue  to  be  post- 
poned, now  that  the  public  good  has  become  so  controll- 
ing an  element  in  national  relations.  The  doctrine  of 
public  policy  and  morals,  called  "  geographical  neces- 
sity," has  obviously  not  yet  been  expounded  in  Europe, 
with  the  same  efficacy  as  among  ourselves. 

But,  leaving  Portugal  out  of  the  question,  the  Span- 
ish kingdom  has  more  of  the  federal  elements  than 
any  nation  that  I  know  of  in  Europe.  The  provinces, 
mostly  segregated  from  each  other  by  natural  bar- 
riers, are  quite  as  much  so  by  their  peculiar  and  re- 
spective characters,  customs,  and  laws.  The  sturdy 
Biscayan,  the  Switzer  of  the  Peninsula,  is  as  different, 
in  his  personal  and  provincial  characteristics,  from  the 
stolid  and  uncouth  Galician,  —  the  industrious,  but  chol- 
eric and  selfish  Catalan,  —  the  witty,  flippant,  gallant, 
bull-destroying  Andalusian,  —  as  is  the  burgher  of  Am- 
sterdam from  the  sun-loving  Neapolitan.  And  so  of 
the  other  provinces.  Their  forms,  prescriptions,  ideas, 
are  all  ditTerent.  Their  interests  are  different, —  fre- 
quently conflicting.  Their  costumes  and  dialects  are 
totally  distinct.  The  soil  they  till,  the  products  they 
consume,  are  as  the  soil  and  products  of  remote  nations. 
Some  of  them  are  mountaineers,  —  some  dwellers  upon 
boundless  plains,  —  some  fishermen,  or  sailors,  or  shep- 
25 


386  SPAIN. 

herds,  or  manufacturers,  or  cultivators  of  the  deep  green 
vegas  that  beautify  the  borders  of  the  sea.  Yet,  over 
all,  and  binding  them  and  all  their  diversities  together,  is 
the  iron  band  of  a  beloved  and  time-honored  nationality. 
Catalonians,  Biscayans,  Asturians,  Castilians,  —  they 
are  all  Spaniards.  It  was  this  national  sentiment  which 
animated  and  sustained  the  heroism  of  their  resistance 
to  Napoleon,  notwithstanding  the  local  institutions,  jeal- 
ousies, and  rivalries  which  deprived  it  of  unity  and 
concentration. 

Nor  is  the  present  administrative  system  of  Spain 
otherwise  than  favorable  to  the  formation  of  federal 
habits  and  ideas.  The  general  government,  as  has 
been  seen,  presides  directly  over  the  foreign  relations 
of  the  country,  and  has  immediate  control  of  all  gen- 
eral and  national  affairs.  Each  province,  however,  has 
its  own  civil  governor,  appointed  by  the  crown  ;  repre- 
senting, within  his  sphere,  the  Minister  of  Gobernacion 
(the  Interior),  and  in  effect  the  executive  ruler  of  the 
province.  For  purposes  of  consultation,  he  has  his  Pro- 
vincial Council,  of  three  or  five  persons,  likewise  nomi- 
nated by  the  Queen.  The  Provincial  Deputation,  an 
elective  body,  to  which  I  have  already  referred,  has 
duties  and  powers  of  a  comprehensive  and  more  active 
nature,  —  watching  over  the  welfare,  regulating  the 
contributions,  and  developing  the  resources  of  the  prov- 
ince. Each  province,  therefore,  —  thus  taking  care,  in 
form  at  least,  of  its  own  interests,  and  in  a  measure 
controlling  them,  —  concerned  in  the  assessment  and 
levy  of  its  domestic  taxes, —  having  its  wants  and  wish- 
es represented  by  its  own  officers,  near  the  central  au- 
thority,—  is  in  many  respects  a  separate,. though  a  dp- 


SPAIN.  387 

pendent  state.  Tlicn,  too,  there  is  the  municipal  feature, 
the  independent  action  of  the  uyuntamicnto  within  its 
allotted  sphere, —  as  distinct  as  that  of  the  provincial 
authorities  within  their  jurisdiction.  In  these  particu- 
lars thei;e  is  great  similarity  to  the  pohtical  condition  of 
the  American  Colonies  prior  to  the  Revolution.  The 
ingredients —  the  rudimcntal  and  elementary  ideas  — 
of  a  confederacy  are  all  there,  as  developed  in  the 
beautiful  analysis  of  the  subject  made  by  M.  dc  Toc- 
queville,  in  his  treatise  on  Democracy  in  America. 

The  very  existence  of  tiiese  various  elements  —  so 
suggestive  of  confederation,  and  so  likely  to  produce 
prosperity  under  and  through  it —  must  render  it  nearly 
impossible  to  uphold  the  present  centralizc^l  and  cen- 
tralizing system,  for  any  length  of  time,  after  the  causes 
of  improvement,  which  are  now  at  work,  shall  have 
made  it  as  easy  to  carry  out,  as  it  now  is  to  discover, 
what  the  national  prosperity  demands.  The  very  dis- 
tinction in  provincial  characteristics  —  which  would  be 
the  main  stay  of  a  federal  union,  constituted  to  adopt 
and  perpetuate  it,  as  far  as  useful  —  is  productive  only 
of  discord  and  discontent,  where  provincial  wants  and 
interests  are  merged,  as  now,  in  an  absorbing  consolida- 
tion. Centralization  —  which,  modified  by  federal  in- 
stitutions, would  be  a  blessing  to  every  part,  and  com- 
municate to  each  the  vigor  of  the  whole —  now  crushes, 
of  necessity,  what  it  attempts,  unnaturally,  to  amalga- 
mate. Two  things,  each,  in  its  sphere,  a  good,  are 
thus  linked  together  for  evil.  Two  healthful  ingredi- 
ents are  combined,  by  bad  chemistry,  into  a  poison. 
This  cannot  last,  when  those  who  sutler  from  it  grow 
able  to  reform  it.     There   can  be    but  one  true  policy 


388  SPAIN. 

for  a  people  in  such  a  condition,  and  that  is,  to  give 
to  the  national  and  the  provincial  element,  each,  its  ap- 
propriate sphere,  —  to  surround  the  throne,  which  shall 
represent  the  nation,  with  the  guaranties  which  shall  be 
drawn  from  prosperous  and  independent  states,  confed- 
erated to  form  the  one  and  to  defend  the  other.  I  am 
aware  that  a  writer*  —  whose  opinions  on  such  subjects 
are  more  justly  entitled  to  be  held  oracular,  than  those  of 
any  other, reasoner  upon  government  —  has  pronounced 
a  confederation,  "  of  all  systems,  the  most  complicated, 
the  most  difficult :  that  which  demands  the  greatest  de- 
velopment in  the  intellect  of  men,  the  greatest  empire 
of  general  interests  over  particular  interests,  of  general 
ideas  over  local  prejudices,  of  public  reason  over  indi- 
vidual passions."  Yet  the  requirements  of  a  confeder- 
acy—  growing  up  of  itself,  and  not  created  by  a  con- 
stituent assembly,  —  suggested  by  geographical  and 
natural  causes,  and  arising  spontaneously  from  national 
circumstances,  in  their  ordinary  germination  and  de- 
velopment—  would  hardly  be  so  multiform  and  abso- 
lute. The  causes  which  produced,  would  in  such  case 
preserve.  It  may  require  art  and  constant  outlay  to 
keep  the  walls  of  the  Escorial  as  they  came  from  the 
hands  of  the  builder ;  but  the  mountain  parapets,  be- 
hind it,  have  become  a  changeless  part  of  the  nature 
which  formed  them. 

Taking  it  for  granted  that  a  future  confederacy  is 
possible  in  Spain,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the 
wealth  and  power  she  would  draw  from  it  would  make 
Portugal  a  suitor  for  its  privileges.     If  not,  the  wealth 

*  M.  Guizot. 


SPAIN.  389 

might  buy  tlic  frocdom  of  the  great  rivers  wliich  pass 
through  I'urtiigal  to  the  Atlantic,  —  or  the  powf-r  might 
give  to  Spain  attractive  views  of  "  annexation,''  which 
its  present  uses  will  scarcely  suggest  to  her.  So  se- 
riously Were  plans  of  the  sort  which  I  have  indicat- 
ed broached  in  the  political  circles  of  Madrid,  that 
there  were  many  vvho  believed  the  formation  of  a  con- 
federacy would  be  the  basis  of  the  next  general  move- 
ment of  the  people.  The  increasing  tendency  toward 
centralization  seemed  to  be  regarded,  in  all  quarters 
(except  among  the  rulers  and  their  immediate  follow- 
ers), as  the  leading  evil  of  the  times.  During  the  ad- 
ministration of  Espartero,  \hefueros,  or  provincial  privi- 
leges of  the  Basque  provinces,  were  to  a  great  extent 
suppressed.  As  a  piece  of  national  legislation,  this  was 
altogether  wise,  —  though  the  fueros,  in  themselves, 
were,  many  of  them,  relics  of  the  best  days  of  early 
freedom.  With  the  existence  of  a  federation  they 
would  have  been  eminently  compatible  ;  but  the  ob- 
stacles were  infinite  which  they  raised  in  the  legitimate 
path  of  the  existing  system,  and  they  were  the  source 
of  great  discontent  and  much  ill  blood  among  the  other 
provinces,  which  could  see  no  reason  why  the  Basques 
should  be  thus  preferred.  The  Moderados  have  carried 
out  this  portion  of  Espartero's  policy,  in  the  main,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  the  "  Free  Provinces,"  when  I  went 
among  them,  were  in  no  better  predicament  than  the  rest 
of  their  countrymen.  As  a  sort  of  prelude  to  a  federal 
movement,  —  a  preparation  of  the  public  mind  for  it,  — 
there  was  a  project,  when  I  was  in  Madrid,  to  restore  to 
the  Basques  the  most  important  of  their /j/cros,  and  thus 
lead  the  people  of  the  other  provinces  to  insist  on  similar 


390  SPAIN. 

concessions.  The  idea  was  not  a  bad  one  ;  but  I  have 
seen  no  evidence  of  its  having  been  carried  out.  It 
was  but  a  means,  however,  and  the  end  may  be  attained 
as  readily  in  other  ways. 

Whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  political  destiny  of 
Spain,  it  is  certain  that  the  development  of  her  re- 
sources, and  especially  the  completion  of  her  great 
works  of  internal  improvement,  must  in  some  measure 
precede  its  consummation.  There  are  two  obstacles  to 
her  entire  political  prosperity,  which  are  not  likely  to  be 
removed,  till  these  ends  shall  have  been,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, accomplished.  The  one  is  the  e?)ipleomania,  or 
mania  for  place,  which  has  already  been  the  subject  of 
remark  ;  the  other,  the  advantage  which  the  government 
has  over  the  people,  in  its  greater  facilities  for  prompt 
communication  and  action.  The  first  is  mainly  the  re- 
sult of  the  few  opportunities,  hitherto  offered,  for  the 
profitable  exercise  of  industry  and  capacity.  Until  the 
cause  shall  have  been  removed,  the  evil  must  continue. 
But  although  the  desire  of  advancement  in  the  public 
service,  which  springs  from  lofty  aspirations,  is  self-sus- 
taining, as  all  things  noble  are,  —  hanging,  for  subsist- 
ence, on  the  favor  of  the  little  great,  is  a  calling  which 
few  will  consent  to  follow,  who  have  access  to  any  thing 
worthier.  Custom,  it  is  true,  may  demoralize  men,  till 
they  feel  no  humiliation  in  that  or  any  other  sort  of  men- 
dicancy. Want  may  sometimes  break  even  the  proudest 
spirits  to  the  degradation  of  dependence  and  servility. 
Bat  the  young  and  earnest  —  on  whom  the  hopes  of 
nations  rest  —  must  loathe  such  things,  at  first,  though 
they  have  no  other  refuge  from  starvation.  Let  chan- 
nels but  be  opened  for  industry  and  intelligence,  —  rea- 


SPAIN.  391 

sonable  iniluccments  held  out  to  honest  toil,  —  reputable 
and  remunerative  occupation  given  to  the  hands  or  to  the 
mind, — and  the  throngs  which  bow  in  the  antecham- 
bers, or  scowl  and  plot  in  the  Pwerta  del  Sol,  will  soon 
be  reduced  to  the  few  who  are  beyond  demoraliza'tion. 
It  would  of  course  be  going  too  far  to  say,  that,  even 
then,  the  evil  will  be  eradicated  altogether.  Our  own 
national  experience  has  sadly  failed  to  demonstrate  that 
the  utmost  opportunity  for  the  acquisition  of  pecuniary 
independence  will,  of  necessity,  withdraw  men  from 
the  pursuit  of  politics  as  a  trade.  But  if  the  good  of 
a  diversion  be  not  absolute,  it  will,  at  all  events,  be  a 
good,  and  Spain  is  in  no  case  to  despise  the  smallest  of 
these.  The  evil  is  certainly  that  which  retards,  more 
than  any  other,  the  establishment  of  a  free  system,  and 
its  uncorrupted  economical  administration. 

Upon  the  other  point  little  need  be  said.  The  gov- 
ernment is  a  vast,  connected,  organized  system, — 
moved  by  a  single  will,  and  working  with  rapidity,  cer- 
tainty, and  concentration.  The  people,  broken  into 
provinces,  —  without  facility  of  access  to  each  other, — 
have  no  opportunity  for  the  speedy  formation  or  expres- 
sion of  a  public  or  national  opinion,  —  no  means  what- 
ever of  prompt,  united  action.  They  can  be  anticipat- 
ed and  overawed,  —  kept  apart,  and  crushed  in  detaih 
With  all  neeiiful  intelligence  and  spirit,  they  cannot 
bring  either  to  bear,  except  under  the  greatest  disadvan- 
tages. With  abundant,  but  scattered  strength,  they  are 
unable  to  concentrate  or  direct  it.  The  difficulty  is 
chiefly  a  physical  one,  and  material  agencies  alone  can 
remove  it.  When  the  telegraph  shall  flash  its  tidings 
through  the  whole  land  at  the  same  moment,  and  the 


392  SPAIN. 

power  of  steam  shall  be  at  the  bidding  of  the  spirit 
which  they  may  awaken,  then  the  people  and  their 
rulers  will  be  fairly  in  the  lists,  and  with  an  equal  sun 
the  wrong  must  needs  go  down. 

There  may  be  persons  to  whom  the  views  and  antici- 
pations expressed  in  the  foregoing  pages  will  seem  too 
flattering,  —  the  jesult,  perhaps,  of  partiality  for  a  fa- 
vorite nation.  This  impression  may  not  be  altogether 
unfounded.  The  partiality  is  not  denied,  and  it  may 
have  produced  its  natural  effects.  Insensibly  too,  from 
dwelling  on  a  subject,  the  judgment  may  be  moulded  to 
its  shapes.  "  In  contemplating  antiquities,"  says  For- 
syth, translating  from  Livy,  "  the  mind  itself  becomes 
antique."  The  author  has  endeavored,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  guard  against  this,  and,  even  if  unsuc- 
cessful, he  is  persuaded  that  his  opinions  have  been 
dffected  far  less  by  his  predilections,  than  he  has  found 
those  of  many  of  his  predecessors  to  have  been  by 
the  prejudices  of  creed  and  education.  Impartiality 
is  no  doubt  the  philosophic  frame  of  mind,  but  not  the 
impartiality  of  indifference  ;  indeed  it  may  be  ques- 
tioned, greatly,  whether  sympathy  is  not  a  necessary 
element  in  all  capacity  for  national,  as  well  as  other 
appreciation.  Antipathy,  at  all  events,  is  not  a  promis- 
ing one. 

But  if  the  author  should  not  be  fortunate  enough  to 
merit  entire  coincidence  with  his  opinions,  he  trusts  he 
has  at  least  established,  that  Spain  should  not  be 
coupled,  as  she  usually  is,  with  Austria  and  Eussia,  in 
our  popular  and  daily  denunciations  of  despotism. 
Surely  she  deserves,  if  any  nation  can,  the  encourage- 
ment and  sympathy  of  the  friends  of  rational  liberty. 


SPAIN. 


393 


For  half  a  century  —  througli  blood  ami  fire  at  first, 
and  then  througli  sad  oppression  and  strife,  and 
through  the  calmer  but  severer  trials  of  peaceful  revo- 
lution—  she  has  been  indomitably  working  out  her 
gradual  redemption.  Her  institutions  may  differ  from 
ours.  Her  system  may  be  imperfect  ;  her  power 
may,  as  yet,  be  far  below  its  ancient  scale  and  that 
of  our  present  predominance  ;  but  the  fortitude  and 
pei*severancc  which  have  gone  thus  far  will  go  far- 
ther, 

"  ever  reaping  something  new,  — 
That  which  they  have  done  but  earnest  of  the  things  that  they 
shall  do." 

If  we  are  devoted  to  human  freedom  for  its  own 

sake,  —  whatever  be  the  shape  it  takes, —  it  becomes  us 

to  welcome  a  constitutional  monarchy  which  has  been 

reared  upon  the  ruins  of  a  despotism.     That  monarchy 

may  be  devoted,  in  appearance,  rather  to  the  cause  of 

order  than  the  cause  of  progress;  but  in  Europe  order 

is  the  road  to  progress,  and  there  have  been,  of  late, 

too  many   unhappy  illustrations  of  the  truth,  that  the 

woi-st  of  despotisms  is  that  which  follows  an  abortive 

and  too  hasty  effort  to  be   free.     All  cannot  be  alto- 

crether  like  ourselves.    All  need  not  be,  to  flourish.    To 

sympathize  with  none  but  those  who  adopt  our  forms,  is 

to  reverence   but  the  reproduction  of  ourselves,  —  to 

forget  that  which  is  in  us  and  in  our  forms,  and  alone 

makes  them  and  us  what  we  are. 

But  whether  we  give  or  refuse  sympathy,  let  us  at  all 
events  do  justice.  The  one  is  our  own,  to  dispose  of  as 
we  please,  —  the  other  we  may  not  honestly  withhold. 
There  is  no  law  by  which  a  man  may  be  compelled  to 


394  SPAIN. 

love  his  neighbor  as  himself,  but  there  is  legislation  on 
the  subject  of  highway  robbery.  Spain  has  the  sorest 
need  of  her  resources,  in  her  toilsome  struggle  for  hap- 
piness, development,  and  freedom.  Let  us  not  give  it  to 
history  to  say,  that  she  was  compelled  to  waste  the 
means  of  her  deliverance  in  defending  herself  from  re- 
publican cupidity.  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  to  some 
of  our  political  philosophers,  there  are  such  things  as 
right  and  wrong,  and  they  are  not  to  be  measured  by 
the  wants  and  desires  of  a  people,  any  more  than  by 
the  ambition  and  unscrupulousness  of  a  prince.  It  is 
easy  enough  to  write  state  papers,  speak  speeches, 
pass  resolutions,  and  invent  pretexts,  in  defence  of  prof- 
itable usurpation.  Men  of  great  intellect,  and  flexible 
temper  or  integrity,  may  be  purchased  or  flattered  by 
temporary  popularity,  or  awed  by  general  opinion  and 
the  public  will,  into  the  support  of  any  heresy.  Great 
names  have  never  been  wanting  to  sanction,  or  great 
abilities  to  justify,  any  national  iniquity  that  promised 
heavy  returns.  Truth  and  justice  exist,  nevertheless, 
and  magnanimity  and  fair-dealing  with  the  weak  are 
still  valued  among  men.  Injustice  will  survive  the  best 
gloss  that  we  can  put  on  it.  Campbell  could  not  pre- 
clude the  verdict  of  history,  by  all  the  lyric  splendor 
of  the  "  Battle  of  the  Baltic."  If  the  annals  of  the 
world  show  any  thing,  it  is  that  national  power,  in  its 
utmost  duration,  is  not  so  lasting  as  national  shame. 


POSTSCRIPT 


The  changes  whicli  have  taken  place  in  Spain,  since  the 
period  to  which  liic  body  of  this  vohime  more  particularly 
refers,  do  not  alfect,  in  the  main,  the  correctness  of  the  sketch 
which  has  been  given.  It  may  be  well,  however,  to  notice 
the  general  direction  of  those  which  have  not  been  fully  ad- 
verted to  already. 

Notwitlistanding  the  very  large  majority  of  the  Moderados 
in  the  Cortes  chosen  in  1850,  it  became  apparent,  soon  after 
their  session  had  begun,  that  the  preponderance  of  th«  party 
furnished  no  guaranty  for  the  permanence  of  the  existing 
administration.  The  Count  of  San  Luis  had  overshot  his 
mark.  He  had  controlled  the  elections,  but  could  not  manage 
the  elect.  Ir  December,  Bravo  Murillo  retired  from  the  cab- 
inet, and  the  dissensions  which  followed  resulted  in  the  resig- 
nation of  Narvacz  himself,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  ministry 
which  he  had  formed  and  kept  together.  His  downfall  was 
believed  to  be  the  work  of  Queen  Cristina.  Recent  events 
seem  to  indicate  his  return  to  power,  and  it  is  impossible  that 
such  a  man  can  fail,  for  any  length  of  time,  to  make  his  in- 
fluence felt  in  one  shape  or  another. 

After  the  retirement  of  Narvaez,  the  reconstruction  of 
the  council  was  intrusted  to  Bravo  Murillo,  who  continued 
until  recently  to  occupy  its  presidency.  Various  cabinet 
changes  and  dissolutions  of  the  Cortes  have  taken  place  in 


396  POSTSCRIPT. 

the  mean  time,  but  the  Moderados  have  managed  to  retain 
the  control  of  both  departments  of  the  government.  Neither 
of  the  great  parties  has  been  without  its  troubles  and  schisms. 
Sr.  Pacheco  has  developed  the  secret  of  these,  in  a  single 
phrase.  "  Parties,"  he  observes,  "  which  were  framed  upon 
public  principles,  have  split  upon  private  interests."  The' 
laborers,  on  both  sides,  are  out  of  proportion  to  the  harvest, 
and  some  of  them  are  fain  to  turn  their  reaping-hooks  into 
swords.  Among  the  Moderados,  the  advocates  of  extreme 
doctrines  have  had  the  ascendency,  as  the  acts  of  the  gov- 
ernment show.  The  most  unfortunate  evidence  of  their  pre- 
dominance is  to  be  found  in  the  restraint  imposed  on  the 
press.  The  spirit  of  the  enactments  on  that  subject,  lately 
promulgated  and  enforced,  is  almost  identical  with  that  which 
has  prevailed  for  some  time  past  in  France.  Indeed,  upon 
all  subjects,  the  tone  of  the  Spanish  officials  and  their  organs, 
until  the  recent  change,  had  grown  less  and  less  deferential 
to  the  constitution,  and  more  avowedly  and  openly  absolute. 

The  Progresistas,  forgetful  altogether  of  the  obvious  truth, 
that  no  opposition  can  be  effective  without  unity,  have  been 
wasting  their  strength  and  opportunities,  for  the  most  part,  in 
the  unprofitable  discussion  of  abstract  questions.  While 
they  debated  as  to  the  degree  of  rapidity  with  which  prog- 
ress should  advance,  they  were  imperceptibly  throwing  away 
the  chance  and  their  ability  to  secure  any  progress  at  all. 
Of  late,  they  appear  to  have  regained  their  wisdom,  and  with 
it  their  organization  and  their  strength.  In  the  Cortes  re- 
cently assembled,  they  had  a  formidable  array  of  numbers 
and  parliamentary  talent.  The  Moderado  opposition,  too,  was 
full  of  vigor,  ability,  and  influence,  with  some  of  the  first 
names  of  the  nation  on  its  lists.  A  combination  of  the  op- 
posing elements  resulted  in  the  entire  defeat  of  the  ministry 
upon  the  organization  of  the  Congress  of  Deputies.  Martinez 
de  la  Rosa  was  elected  President  ;  but  almost  his  first  duty 
was  to  announce  that  the  Queen  had  been  pleased  to  dissolve 
the  Cortes.     Before  taking  this  decided  step,  the  government 


POSTSCRIPT.  397 

had  submitted  to  the  legislature  several  projects  of  constilu- 
ti(iii;il  ri'lbrd),  —  all  of  ihem  tending  towards  a  reduction  of 
the  popular  power,  and  the  assiniilalion  of  the  Spanish  sys- 
tenn  to  that  of  Napoleon  the  Third.  The  fate  of  measures 
so  unnecessary  and  alisurd  was  too  obvious,  in  the  Cortes  as 
they  then  stood,  and  there  was  no  alternative  but  a  dissolution 
of  the  cabinet  or  of  the  legislature.  The  next  Cortes  will 
assemble  in  March,  1853.  The  people  will  have  the  views 
of  the  reactionists  fully  before  them  in  the  elections,  and  it 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  result  will  strengthen,  more 
than  ever,  the  hands  of  the  liberal  constitutional  party.  In- 
deed, the  news  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Murillo  ministry,  re- 
ceived as  these  sheets  are  going  to  the  press,  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  the  question  is  already  substantially  settled. 

But  for  the  proximity  of  France,  and  the  unavoidable  influ- 
ence of  the  imperial  doctrines  and  policy,  a  Spanish  cabinet 
would  hardly  have  ventured,  at  this  day,  upon  the  suggestion 
of  such  changes  as  I  have  alluded  to.  So  obvious  is  this,  in- 
deed, that  the  government  organ  in  Paris  has  felt  it  necessary 
to  disavow  all  connection  of  the  Emperor  with  the  matter. 
There  is  not  a  nation  in  the  world  which  has  furnished  fewer 
pretexts  than  Spain  for  reactionary  legislation.  The  Span- 
iards have  used  the  degree  of  freedom  which  they  have  en- 
joyed, with  prudence  and  extreme  moderation.  They  have 
committed  no.£xcesses,  —  run  wild  with  no  theories,  —  organ- 
ized no  conspiracies,  —  invented  no  infernal  machines.  They 
have  dedicated  themselves,  soberly  and  steadfastly,  to  the  de- 
velopment of  their  material  resources,  asking  nothing  but  to  be 
protected,  or  at  all  events  let  alone.  They  have  not  required 
so  much  as  a  shain-fight  on  the  Prado,  or  a  single  display  of 
fireworks,  to  keep  them  in  perfect  good  humor  with  their 
rulers  and  themselves.  Even  a  government  confessing  itself 
arbitrary,  would  therefore  be  without  excuse  for  interfering 
with  the  constitution.  How  the  idea  of  such  a  thing  could 
occur  to  a  constitutional  cabinet,  —  composed  of  men  whom 
the  constitutional    system   had  created,  —  passes  all   under- 


398  POSTSCRIPT. 

standing.  The  pernicious  influence  of  the  Queen  Mother  is 
probably  the  immediate  source  of  the  movement.  The  pro- 
gressive tendencies  of  the  people  and  the  unequivocal  revo- 
lution which  old  ideas  and  systems  have  already  undergone, 
may  be  trusted  to  counteract  it. 

It  must  not  be  denied,  however,  that,  under  the  policy  of 
the  Murillo  cabinets,  the  prosperity  of  Spain  substantially 
and  steadily  advanced.  This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to 
her  financial  affairs.  Nothing  practicable  was  neglected,  to 
secure  an  economical  administration  of  the  government  and 
the  faithful  collection  and  disbursement  of  the  public  moneys. 
The  measures  which  were  adopted  in  regard  to  the  debt 
were  statesmanlike  and  earnest,  —  indicating  a  due  apprecia- 
tion of  the  national  responsibility  and  faith,  and  a  determi- 
nation to  provide,  to  the  extent  of  the  national  ability,  for  the 
payment  of  the  interest  and  the  gradual  extinguishment  of 
the  principal. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  enter  into  a  detail  of  the  adminis- 
trative reforms  which  the  last  two  years  have  consummated. 
One  of  the  principal  of  these  was  the  suppression  of  the  De- 
partment of  Commerce,  Instruction,  and  Public  Works.  The 
supervision  of  public  education,  which  was  one  of  the  func- 
tions of  this  Department,  has  passed  to  that  of  Grace  and 
Justice.  Its  remaining  duties  have  been  committed  to  a  new 
department,  called  the  Ministerio  de  Fomento ;  a  title  so  pe- 
culiarly Spanish,  that  it  can  hardly  be  better  rendered  into 
English,  than  as  the  "  Department  of  Public  Encourage- 
ment." Agriculture,  commerce,  manufactures,  internal  im- 
provements, and  the  general  industry  and  national  resources 
of  the  kingdom,  are  within  its  very  comprehensive  scope. 

The  administrative  eml)arrassments  which  have  been  pre- 
viously alluded  to,  as  resulting  from  the  suppression  of  the 
Council  of  Indies,  seem  to  have  suggested  the  necessity  of 
a  Colonial  Department,  to  be  called  the  Ministerio  de  U/lra- 
mar.     At  the  last  dates  from    Madrid,   the  details  of  its  or- 

anization  had  not  been  promulged  ;  but  there  appears  to  be 


POSTSCRIPT.  399 

no  doubt  of  its  establishment  within  a  brief  period.  The 
magnitude  of  the  colonial  interests  which  are  still  controlled  by 
Spain,  would  seem  fully  to  justify  the  contemplated  cliange. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  colonial  system  will  be  so  far  mod- 
ified under  its  auspices,  as  to  remove  all  pretext  for  dissatis- 
faction with  the  government  of  the  mother  country.  In  view 
of  the  creation  of  the  Department  of  Ultramar,  that  of  Fo- 
mento  seems  likely  to  share  the  fate  of  its  predecessor, — 
leaving  its  functions  to  be  distributed  among  the  other  depart- 
ments. The  policy  of  assigning  its  important  duties  to  offi- 
cers whose  labors  are  already  sufficiently  numerous  and  ill- 
performed,  may  well  be  doubled  ;  but  any  permanent  ar- 
rangement would  be  preferable  to  continued  variation  and 
experiment. 

The  desestanco,  or  removal  of  the  government  monopoly 
from  salt  and  tobacco,  —  a  measure  of  the  deepest  importance 
to  the  public  interests,  — lately  occupied  the  attention  of  Sr. 
Murillo.  Whether  it  was  suggested  merely  as  a  bid  for  pop- 
ularity, or  was  really  contemplated  in  good  faith,  must  remain 
in  doul)t.  Little  could  have  been  expected  from  the  liberality 
of  an  administration  which  could  promulgate  such  an  edict  as 
that  recently  published  in  regard  to  foreigners.  "  No  foreign- 
er," says  its  third  article,  "  will  be  permitted  to  profess,  in 
Spain,  any  religion  but  the  Roman  Catholic  and  Apostolic." 
Fortunately,  there  is  no  obligation  imposed  on  strangers  to 
profess  any  religion  whatever,  except  in  connection  with 
certain  legal  acts.  The  article  quoted  is  nothing  new  in  the 
Spanish  law,  but  it  seems  wellnigh  time  for  something  belter. 
"  Of  old  things,"  some  "  are  over  old." 


Jakuary,  1853. 


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